BOSTON, September 21, 2005 — Berklee College of Music, the Boston Public Library, and the Boston Jazz Society will continue their community collaboration, Jazz on Wheels, to interest and involve young people and their families in jazz. This neighborhood performance series, where children and their families listen to, learn about, and play jazz, is free and will take place at 12 noon on three Saturday mornings at

• Codman Square Branch, Janice Knight branch - 690 Washington St., Dorchester, on October 15. For more info call (617) 436-8214.
  
  
• Uphams Corner Branch, George Titonis branch - 500 Columbia Road, Dorchester, on November 19. For more info call (617) 265-0139.
  
  
• South End Branch, Anne Smart Branch - 685 Tremont Street, Boston, on December 3. For more info call (617) 536-8241.

Through the program, a rotating group of volunteer Berklee faculty members will perform concerts at Boston Public Library branches. Children from the audience will be invited to join the band for the closing tune, and performers will give a history of jazz throughout the concert. Berklee faculty performers for the first concert will be Robert Christopherson, piano; Rich Appleman, bass; John Baboian, guitar; Bob Patton, sax; John Hazilla, drums; and Berklee alumn and vocalist Abria Smith rapping.

Children in elementary and middle schools are encouraged to attend with their families. Two weeks prior to each event, a photographic exhibit, courtesy of the Boston Jazz Society, will be on exhibit at the respective libraries, featuring jazz luminaries and historical jazz clubs in the Boston area.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us. Berklee Professor John Hazilla surrounded by children enjoying last year's Jazz On Wheels

Founded in 1973, the Boston Jazz Society is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to jazz appreciation. Through its sponsorship of scholarships, lectures, seminars, concerts, and tributes, it promotes jazz education and assists in performances and fund-raisers for other social, cultural, and education groups.

For more than 150 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America with revolutionary ideas and famous firsts. Established in 1848, the BPL was the first publicly supported municipal library in America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library and the first to have a children's room.

Today, the BPL boasts 27 neighborhood branches, free Internet access, two unique restaurants, an award-winning website www.bpl.org and an on-line store featuring reproductions of the BPL's priceless photographs and artwork. Each year, the BPL hosts nearly 5000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions and serves millions of people in its National Historic Landmark McKim Building in Copley Square. All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning!

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and non-performance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing 70-plus countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.

For more information, please contact:

Mitzi A. Dorbu
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617-747-2750
mdorbu@berklee.edu