The holiday season is in full swing in Los Angeles and this year LeRoy Downs, the quintessential on-air radio personality and creator and producer of TheJazzCat.net, and president of Make Music Los Angeles will be celebrating a new tradition by producing a Holiday Flash Mob/concert on Dec. 18, 2014 at City National Bank Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, CA. The concert begins at 5:00 p.m. City National Plaza is located at 515 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA.
“There is no greater joy than the sights and sounds of the holiday season,” says Mr. Downs, “Earlier this year for International Jazz Day, MMLA participated in a Jazz Flash Mob at Union Station with The Jazz Education Network and Beyond the Bell, Branch of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and later were asked by City National Plaza to help organize one for the Holidays! City National Plaza is also filming the event as a documentary, so this is truly a special occasion for musicians who are interested in furthering the mission of MMLA.”
Now in its third year, Make Music LA invited Beyond the Bell, Branch of Los Angeles Unified School District and The Jazz Education Network to partner once again to coordinate this special musical event for City National Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles. MMLA is calling out to all local musicians who are students, professionals and amateurs along with singers, choirs, groups and individuals to perform Holiday music. The event is open to artists of all ages, all levels of ability, and primarily wind instruments to join in this celebration. Come down to enjoy the fun, however to participate you must register at MakeMusicLA.org to download the music.
Tony White, this year’s Musical Director, will lead the musicians who will perform the songs in the spirit of a jam session. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “This Christmas,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” are the scheduled songs to be performed. White is a professional jazz musician, musical director, teacher, and philanthropist whose mastery of the tenor soprano and alto saxophone voices makes him the perfect headliner as well as the perfect mentor.
Dorsay Dujon, the founder of Make Music LA, started Make Music LA mainly because of the need to educate our children. “Music gives kids a sense of purpose. It gives them a sense of well-being and connectedness as they’re working in groups. But more than anything it helps them with everything else they’re going to do. It helps them with mathematics; it helps their cognitive skills, and boosts self-esteem,” says Ms. Dujon. MMLA is based on France’s Fête de la Musique, a national musical holiday inaugurated in 1982. The festival has become an international phenomenon celebrated on the same day in more than 800 cities in 110 countries, including Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Australia, Vietnam, Congo, Cameroon, Fiji, Colombia, Chile, Nepal, and Japan.
For more information, please visit the Make Music LA Holiday Flash Mob website.
Written by Paula Edelestein
