MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT On behalf of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®), I am pleased to welcome you to the 42nd annual Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, presented by KeyBank. In an art-rich city like Cleveland — which boasts cultural icons like the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — Tri-C has developed a reputation for honoring America’s most significant art form: jazz. Jazz is part of our historical identity. It laid the foundation for soul music, and its influence can be heard around the world. Jazz is recognized as a symbol of inclusion, democracy and opportunity. Both the College and the festival have contributed to Cleveland’s growing jazz legacy, and it has been gratifying to see former Tri-C students like Dominick Farinacci, Jerome Jennings and Walter Barnes make names for themselves as jazz artists. We are grateful for the continued generosity of our presenting sponsor, KeyBank, and we could not host the festival without the support of our other sponsors: Fran and Jules Belkin, Strassman Insurance Services, The George Gund Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, The Roy Minoff Family Fund, The Balogh Brothers, The William F. Weiss Foundation and U.S. Bank. We also deeply appreciate the contributions of Gill and Tommy LiPuma, in whose honor our Center for Creative Arts is named. Special thanks to Cain Park and the City of Cleveland Heights for partnering with us on this modified version of JazzFest. While the past year and a half has been deeply challenging, it has also been a time of heightened awareness, calls to action and reminders of what is truly important. Music is a powerful force — and in the spirit of that force, I invite you to enjoy this festival weekend live from Cain Park.
Alex Johnson, Ph.D. President, Cuyahoga Community College
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