Roberta Flack Music Excellence Program

The DCJF Roberta Flack Music Excellence Program is an arts education initiative that encourages young people to get "jazzed" about learning. Named in honor of the internationally renowned singer/songwriter/pianist/producer Roberta Flack—who was a DC public school teacher and serves as the Chair of DCJF Education Committee—, the DCJF Education Program offers free concerts, workshops, and master classes for more than 5,000 young people each year. Programs are held in partnership with DC Public Schools (DCPS), DC public charter schools, the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative’s Arts for Every Student program, Sitar Arts Center, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, THEARC Performing Arts Center, and others.

Jazzin' at the Sitar: Jazzin' at the Sitar is a partnership with Sitar Arts Center that teaches students about jazz history and jazz improvisation through after-school programs. Teaching methods include workshops, master classes, web-based curriculum toolkits, and "meet the artist" sessions during the DC Jazz Festival. 

Jazz Meets Hip Hop: Jazz Meets Hip Hop familiarizes students with the jazz and hip hop American art forms and highlights jazz's influence on the development of hip hop. Interactive performances and online tools demonstrate the connections between jazz and hip hop music. Jazz Meets Hip Hop is part of the DCJF Roberta Flack Music Excellence Education Program, which provides free, quality music education programs for DC public and charter school students and their teachers and families. DCJF education programs preserve and perpetuate the truly American art forms of jazz and hip hop; empower young people to experience music as a source of personal enrichment and as a vehicle for constructive human expression; and provide employment for professional jazz and hip-hop artists.

DCPS New Teacher Orientation Partner:  Each year, DCJF experts participate in a two-day DCPS New Teacher Orientation.  DCJF advises teachers on how to effectively integrate arts and music into core subject curriculum, using learning guides and recommended reading lists compiled by DCJF education specialists.

MLK Day of Service Event, held annually in January, includes a DCJF concert in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring DC students and jazz professionals. Students incorporate language arts and history through interpretations of Dr. King's great speeches.

Arts Integration Partner: DCJF is actively engaged with DCPS and the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative to include jazz education in its arts integration initiatives as a vehicle to cultivate the whole child.

The DCJF Jazz for a Healthier Generation Initiative is an education and wellness partnership with leading health institutions that uses music to promote healthier lifestyles, wellness, encouragement, and rehabilitation.  Current partners include Georgetown University Hospital, the Children's National Medical Center (CNMC), and the Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. Activities include:

Solo Concerts: Performances by DCJF musicians in the CNMC atrium, waiting rooms, and patient rooms help patients and families transcend the hospital experience. DCJF experts include music therapists and certified music practitioners with extensive experience promoting healthy recoveries. 

Jazz and Healing Concerts:  DCJF programs at hospitals, hospices, retirement centers, and others facilities are designed to support recovery by providing therapeutic listening and interactive activities that strengthen communication and physical coordination skills. 

Free In-School Programming:  These education programs are geared toward children with special needs, including learning disabilities and physical challenges, and use music as an integrative approach to teaching core subjects. Programs take place year-round.