By Dr. Alan Levenson, organized by Abby Rolland
As part of The Presser Foundation’s drive to be more transparent and to amplify the work of its partners, it uses information from grant reports to highlight its grantees.
Each post will spotlight one partner, who has final say over the contents and structure of the post. In this way, the Foundation hopes to not only use information from grant reports (which often go unread and unused), but also to shine the light on many wonderful music organizations.
This post focuses on the Heart of Jazz Foundation, a nonprofit focused on raising awareness about jazz, providing college scholarships in jazz, and providing performance opportunities for young jazz musicians.
Background
Established in 2023 by businessman and jazz afficionado Joe Monaghan, the Heart of Jazz Foundation (HOJ) seeks to bring jazz to underserved communities through presenting free jazz concerts, conducting master classes and workshops for K-12 students, and providing college scholarships in Jazz Studies for aspiring musicians from minority backgrounds.
HOJ believes that raising awareness of jazz music and history among youth can broaden their cultural horizons and foster a deeper appreciation for the arts; that learning about jazz’s roots in African American culture can encourage a greater understanding and respect for diverse communities and their contributions to society; that jazz studies can provide young people with valuable life skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity, which can help them to succeed in their future careers; and that, by introducing youth to jazz, we can inspire the next generation of jazz musicians and help ensure the longevity of this important genre.
Programming
K-12 Education
Master classes, clinics, and other programs to raise jazz awareness among urban youth leverage the talents and experiences of our musician board members.
We have staged free clinics at both schools and arts centers, including KIPP Charter Academy, One Arts Center, and the Kimmel Center’s Rendell Room. Students from around the community are invited and welcomed to attend. HOJ board members lead the clinics, donating their time and expertise.
Jazz trumpeter and Music Director at KIPP, Elliot Bild reflected on the impact of the clinic by saying, “I cannot thank the Heart of Jazz organization and Orrin Evans enough for coming to perform with the KIPP West Bounce Band. I was able to watch every single student’s eyes light up when Mr. Evans walked into the room. Through his passion and love of the music, Mr. Evans was able to help all the students rise up to a new level. It was the best the group sounded all year.”
College Scholarships
HOJ collaborates with the Jazz Studies Department at William Paterson University (WPU), a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a member of The Presser Foundation’s Undergraduate Scholar Award program, to provide scholarships to two of the department’s admitted students each year. With the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, HOJ is supporting six scholarships (two each in the junior, sophomore, and freshman classes).
In 2025, HOJ funded scholarships for five students at the WPU Summer Jazz Camp, which will be an ongoing program. This year, all five participants were women of minority backgrounds, three from the Greater Philadelphia Area.
Performances
Free concerts staged by HOJ aim to build community, to introduce new audiences to jazz, and to provide performance opportunities for young and lesser-known jazz artists.
Recently, HOJ curated a quintet of Philly-rooted student musicians, “The New Philly Sound 2025” (NPS). The current iteration of the band includes two students from The Julliard School and three from Temple University. The band has been conceived as a collective with an evolving membership: as the current members graduate from university and begin their professional careers, they’ll become HOJ ambassadors, replaced in the band by younger student musicians. We premiered NPS, and presented other student bands, at Orrin Evans’ Club Patio Jazz Day in Fort Washington, PA in 2025.
NPS was one of four bands that HOJ recently presented in concert at the One Art Community Center in West Philadelphia, and it performed again under HOJ auspices at the North Philadelphia Peace Park Harvest Festival.
HOJ has also formed a strategic partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Live Arts program to curate jazz bands comprised of Philadelphia high school students who will perform in the lobby of the Annenberg Center prior to headline jazz performances. The first two such events were prior to concerts by renowned vocalists Cecile McLorin Salvant and Diane Reeves in Fall 2025. Beginning with the 2026-27 season, the plan is for these engagements to include a clinic for high school students led by the artist headlining the Penn Live Arts event.
Addressing Equity
HOJ’s raison d’être is to bring jazz, a quintessential Afro-American art form, to communities where it once flourished, namely predominantly African American neighborhoods that today are underserved economically and socially. We choose collaborative partners for concerts and educational programs based on their involvement with the communities and populations that HOJ seeks to serve, such as Trenton African American Pride and the Asbury Park African American Music Project. Our events are free to attend and are staged in underserved areas.
HOJ leadership is comprised of a diverse Board of Directors whose composition reflects a deliberate emphasis on recruiting individuals, including board members, artistic advisory members, mentors, and jazz artists, who mirror the ethnic diversity of the communities with which we engage. At present, nine of HOJ’s fifteen Board members identify as Black, and four are women.
Overall
Through our free jazz concerts, our jazz clinics, and our scholarships in jazz studies, HOJ intends to connect musicians and community members from different backgrounds and of different ages; provide educational and performance opportunities for young musicians, and cultivate mentorship relationships for them; create an audience for future jazz performances/performers; and teach young people the significance of jazz, a truly original American art form.
