FOR RELEASE MARCH 9, 2020
Contact: Marty Ashby, Executive Producer
mashby@manchesterbidwell.org
Facebook.com/mcgjazz
Twitter: @mcgjazz
Scott Hanley, General Manager, WZUM
scott@wzum.org
MCG JAZZ, WZUM, PING PONG PRODUCTIONS PARTNER TO BRING PITTSBURGH JAZZ TO CHINA
PITTSBURGH, PA - The MCG Jazz Spotlight Show on the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel, WZUM, is a one-hour show that broadcasts weekly featuring MCG Jazz executive producer, Marty Ashby and guest hosts discussing jazz music, the influence of Pittsburgh-born jazz musicians’ contribution to the genre of jazz and playing some fun, inspiring songs.
A special MCG Jazz Spotlight Show with a message to the people of Wuhan – Pittsburgh’s sister city – and all of the people of China, will connect these two sister cities and its people as we all deal with the effects of the Coronavirus. The show that will be available for live streaming on WZUM.org on March 14, 2020 at 8:00pm (GMT +8) local China time will be hosted by MCG Jazz executive producer, Marty Ashby and MCG Jazz director, Renee Govanucci. Classic American jazz music will be played from Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong along with music from legendary Pittsburgh jazz masters such as Stanley Turrentine and George Benson. The theme of love will also be prevalent given that March 14, is White Valentine’s Day in China.
This special MCG Jazz Spotlight Show will be broadcast on WZUM 101.1 locally (Eastern Daylight Time) at Friday, March 13, at 6:00pm; Saturday, March 14, at 8:00am and 1:00pm; and again, on Sunday, March 15, at 6:00pm. The March 14, 8:00am broadcast and live streaming opportunity will be promoted to the people of China through a partnership with Ping Pong Productions Inc., Mengtong Guan executive and creative director, whose mission is bringing China and the world together through the performing arts (用表演艺术架起中国与世界之间的沟通桥梁).
About MCG Jazz
MCG Jazz was established in 1987 with a mission to preserve, present, and promote jazz music. The multi-GRAMMY®Award–winning organization has carved out a distinguished niche in the nonprofit world and the music and arts communities throughout its history. During that time, MCG Jazz has become one of the longest-running subscription concert series for live jazz in the country and has been named a Great Jazz Venue by Downbeat Magazine for nine consecutive years. As part of its social mission to foster jazz education and awareness of the genre, the organization has produced more than 2,000 concerts and its associated record label has released 50 albums, five of which won GRAMMY® Awards. Through its acclaimed concert series and recording label, MCG Jazz contributes to the cultural and artistic diversity of the Southwestern Pennsylvania region and beyond.
To celebrate the rich history and vibrant future of jazz music, MCG Jazz partners with regional universities, schools, and other nonprofits to expand its audience. Educational programming offered by MCG Jazz also includes its longstanding School of Swing®, which introduces regional elementary school-aged students to jazz music. Through such efforts, MCG Jazz is committed to maintaining the viability of jazz as an art form for future generations.
MCG Jazz has presented 33 years of innovative, one-of-a-kind concerts by jazz masters and emerging artists. The performance aspect of its programming has led to the capture of an unprecedented archives that comprises one of the world’s largest collections of live recordings of jazz artists from a single venue. The archive contains hundreds of entries from jazz performances, featuring such legends as Carmen McRae, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Tito Puente, and hundreds more.
About WZUM
WZUM is the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel. On the radio around Pittsburgh at AM 1550, Braddock, 101.1 FM, Pittsburgh and 88.5 FM, Bethany, WV in the Ohio Valley. Plus, online, around the world, at www.wzum.org. Owned and operated by the independent non-profit, Pittsburgh Public Media (PPM). The station has assembled a diverse group of experienced media and technology leaders to bring this great music back to the Pittsburgh airwaves. WZUM works with performers, institutions and music lovers throughout the region to help build and sustain a community that supports and embraces this great American and Pittsburgh treasure of jazz.
There are several cities that are essential to jazz’s history: New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles……and Pittsburgh. Of all of these cities, pound-for-pound, New Orleans may stand tallest – but Pittsburgh is right behind. Dozens and dozens of jazz’s innovators lived here, grew up here, took inspiration from their hometown region…and helped to shape more than a century of America’s musical gift to the world. Jazz creators and innovators still prevail in Pittsburgh, today, with more than 200 live events listed each month in the region on WZUM’s JazzCentral calendar.
WZUM is a relatively new service, offering jazz and community information with a Pittsburgh flair, throughout the region every day, day and night. As a new non-profit media enterprise, the present and future of WZUM and the community building it provides is wholly dependent on donations. The support and enthusiasm to the sounds of jazz in the air from thousands of donors and listeners has been tremendous.
About Ping Pong Productions
Ping Pong Productions (PPP) is the leading non-profit cultural-exchange organization whose mission is to bring China and the world together through the performing arts. PPP knows that experiencing the creativity of another culture is the most direct way to glimpse the heart and soul of its people.
Through the arts, we can dispel our preconceptions and experience our shared humanity. To achieve that end, PPP identifies, nurtures, and produces the works of both emerging and established artists, bringing productions to audiences worldwide. Our performances and education activities have toured more than 50 countries on five continents, including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Singapore, Bangalore, Montreal and New York City, to such stages as the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center Festival, Théâtre de la Ville, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Since its founding, Ping Pong Productions has brought more than 500 performances, master classes, discussions, residencies and symposia to audiences, students, corporate events and communities worldwide.
PPP toured the first two American theater companies to perform at China's National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, including Oscar-winner Tim Robbins and his L.A.-based company The Actors’ Gang.
PPP runs a thriving education outreach program touring American and other international artists to schools, universities, and community centers located in 20+ cities throughout China. PPP's education programs are often the first time Chinese students meet an American, and the first time American performers visit Chinese schools. In 2016, we launched our pilot program bringing Chinese artists to schools in the United States.
By transcending boundaries through the arts, we foster a more peaceful world. Our programs advance dialogues between nations at grass-root and government levels,
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