These Jazz Students Play for Justice
[MP3]https://server1.vnkienthuc.com/files/3/Media/se-ed-jazz-4-justice-09-dec-10-CQ.mp3[/MP3]
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
(MUSIC)
Each year, George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, presents a jazz [A]concert[/A]. Around one thousand two hundred people [A]attended[/A] this year's concert in October.
Yet when the program first started, the student [A]musicians[/A] played to an almost empty theater. Ed Weiner was one of the few people in the [A]audience[/A] when the school held the first jazz concert ten years ago.
ED WEINER: "The quality of the [A]performance[/A] was outstanding, but I was shocked to see the poor attendance."
So he did something about it. He found a way not only to increase [A]attendance[/A], but also to raise money for the [A]community[/A].
Ed Weiner is a lawyer. He organized the [A]concerts[/A] into a program called Jazz 4 Justice. The performers include students and [A]employees[/A] from the university, along with guest musicians.
The concert raises money for the Fairfax Law Foundation. The local group uses some of that money to provide free legal [A]services[/A] to people in the community.
The foundation also [A]supports[/A] programs to help young people learn about the legal system. These include courthouse tours and [A]education[/A] about the legal and health [A]effects[/A] of drug and [A]alcohol[/A] abuse.
Foundation officials say the yearly concert brings in about fifteen thousand [A]dollars[/A]. Five thousand of that goes to George Mason University for [A]scholarships[/A] for students in the jazz studies program.
Jim Carroll directs that [A]program[/A]. He says Jazz 4 Justice grew slowly, each year [A]becoming[/A] larger and larger. And he says all the credit really goes to Ed Weiner.
JIM CARROLL: "He has done so much to help this program. He is the guy who is out there on the streets selling [A]tickets[/A], building our audience, so on and so forth."
Mr. Weiner says the idea is to provide a [A]meaningful [/A]experience for the young musicians.
ED WEINER: "We want to keep the focus on the students. This is part of their education and they really see that their talents can be [A]turned[/A] into very good [A]projects[/A] and doing good for the entire community."
Trombone player Amy Loudin agrees.
AMY LOUDIN: "It's all for a good cause, so I feel glad to be a part of that."
Ed Weiner says he hopes Jazz 4 Justice can be copied in other [A]communities[/A] in Virginia and across the country.
