WeBop, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s early childhood education program, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a new classes location at the Harlem School of the Arts. As of February 2016, the new outpost will be offer jazz classes for children ages 8 months to 5 years.
“We are extremely excited to bring Jazz at Lincoln Center’s award-winning WeBop program to the Harlem School of the Arts,” says Dr. Michael Albaugh, Director of Education Operations at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Harlem School of the Arts is a tremendous organization with a shared cultural belief of the importance of arts and education for the community.”
WeBop is one of the most popular music classes in the city. The program’s 45-minute classes, for children from 8 months to 8 years old, are taught by highly trained faculty. Caregivers are encouraged to participate as well, allowing parents and families to explore their creativity and musicality through jazz concepts, instruments, and great performers along with their children. But it’s not just the qualified faculty, the constantly revised curriculum, or even the ever-improving educational infrastructure that distinguishes this music program from others in the city. Dr. Albaugh explains: “The unique thing about the WeBop program is that it is not a drop-off program, something that people can just tune into like in many online content programs…It is an experience program that parents and caregivers can experience with their children.”
The idea for the Harlem expansion originated when WeBop noticed an increase in cancellations and no-shows at classes, and began to investigate. After some research, it turned out that people were cancelling because it was too difficult to travel with a baby on the subway.
“We did some research on the zip codes where people were coming from to [get to] the program, and decided to expand to other parts of Manhattan to make it easier for families traveling with children,” Dr. Albaugh says. “That’s where Harlem came into place, with it being the epicenter of jazz history.” Thus, WeBop s moved into one of world’s jazz capitals.
Registration is now open for the winter 2016 semester, which runs from February 9-April 7, and this term’s curriculum at both the Harlem and Lincoln Center locations will explore the “Jazz Family” theme, including the music of such jazz legends as Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more during the eight-week term. Participants will be divided by age into “Scatters” (walking-23 months) and “Gumbo Group” (ages 2-5).
WeBop at the Harlem School of the Arts is located at 645 St. Nicholas Avenue. For more information, visit academy.jazz.org/webop-at-hsa/
