Montclair Nonprofit Tackles Gender Gap In Jazz With Chica Power – Montclair, NJ Patch
MONTCLAIR, NJ — You may have heard of the gender-wage gap in the workplace. Now, a Montclair-based arts group is trying to bring attention to another socio-economic divide: the gender gap in jazz.
On Tuesday, Jazz House Kids – an Essex County nonprofit dedicated to educating children though one of the nation’s most idiosyncratic arts forms – announced that, for the first time ever, alumni of CHiCA Power, a music education and performance program for young women, will join the star-studded lineup at the 10th annual Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference from Jan. 9 to 12.
In addition, the CHiCA Power program will expand to become a year-round initiative in an attempt to tackle the “gender gap among women in jazz,” founder and president Melissa Walker said.
Here’s how Jazz House Kids describes CHiCA Power:
“The CHiCA Power program at Jazz House Kids provides unique jazz education and peer-to-peer engagement for female students ages 9 to 18 from diverse New Jersey communities, with an emphasis on students from low-income families.”
A key component of CHiCA Power is a free annual seven-week residency led by talented female jazz musicians and world-renowned guest artists such as Sheila E., Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Regina Carter, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen and Rachel Z.
The current all-star ensemble is made up of Zoe Obadia (The Juilliard School), Claudia Nketia (Berklee College of Music), Whisper McRae (SUNY Purchase), Caylen Bryant (Oberlin College alumna), Emily Springer (Smith College) and Monae Clancy (Montclair State University).
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“Research has helped us understand the reasons young women were not participating in jazz,” Walker said. “We’ve built an entire program around this issue, and have seen our graduates go on to attend leading colleges and conservatories.”
According to Jazz House Kids, CHiCA Power was born in 2011. At the time, saxophonist Zoe Obadia was the organization’s only female instrumentalist. Obadia now studies at Juilliard’s jazz program led by Wynton Marsalis and serves as a CHiCA Power teaching assistant.
“Today, thanks to CHiCA Power’s influence, 29% of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS students are young women—a percentage that continues to grow,” the nonprofit stated.
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Photo: Jazz House Kids
