The aim of the Artist-In-Residence (AIR) program, part of DC Jazz Festival Education, is to foster deeper connections between artists and our jazz community. During AIR, artists engage year-round activities including serving as guests curators, collaborating with other artists, participating in master classes or interviews, and supporting DC Jazz Festival Education community engagement activities. 

 

NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter, bandleader and the maestro of the bass, and ace bassist Corcoran Holt currently serve as the DC Jazz Festival’s Artists-In-Residence.

 

A 3-time Grammy winner and 5-time nominee, Ron Carter holds the Guinness Book of World Records distinction as the most recorded bassist in recorded music history.  Ron Carter is universally recognized as our most prolific bassist.  As a leader he has made over 60 recordings.  As an MVP contributor to myriad sessions, he has recorded with a who’s who of American and global music, from Geri Allen, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, peers such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, to Aretha Franklin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paul Simon, and Jefferson Airplane.  Additionally, Carter has passed along his universe of musical knowledge to succeeding generations as an educator.  He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at City College of New York, and a faculty member at the Juilliard School. "Serving as DC Jazz Festival Artist-In-Residence is a new affiliation that I greatly relish and look forward to,” said Maestro Ron Carter. 

 

Ron Carter will share this residency with next generation bassist Corcoran Holt, whose career he inspired.  A native of Washington, DC, Holt is graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the DC Youth Orchestra Program.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies degree from Shenandoah Conservatory.  Holt holds an Assistant Professorship at Arizona State University.  “My upbringing in Washington DC prepared me for my journey in life as a musician and educator. This DC Jazz Festival residency exemplifies coming full circle to my DC roots,” said Corcoran Holt. “I am truly honored to take part.” 

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For more information about the Artist-in-Residence program and to sponsor this program, email Hannah Kuhs at hannah@dcazzfest.org.

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The Artist in Residence program is made possible by the Galena Yorktown Foundation and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities