Jazz for Joy

A celebration of women playing jazz

Background Information

Jane Tortorella is currently a junior in high school from Greenwich, Connecticut. She created this project in response to her growth as a leader at the Alzar School in Cascade, Idaho. She absolutely loves being outside, spending time with her family and friends, reading, playing field hockey, and playing trumpet! She has been playing trumpet since 3rd grade, and wants to spread the empowerment that being a jazz player has brought to her.

Implementation of Project

Jane’s CLP process was defined by adaptation, adapting from the original idea of playing at nursing homes to the prospect of getting to be in a musical group with more young women.  There is always a sense of “otherness” being the only girl in a band, and it can be super discouraging. Jane was really excited to have a group of girls her age and ultimately shifted focus to how she could get more middle school girls to continue within her school. She worked to organize a day to bring together the high school band students and middle school band students for some presentations, some instrument playing, and overall just a great celebration of what it means to be a woman who plays an instrument.