Washington Post: Kennedy Center upgrading Jason Moran to artistic director for jazz with 3-year renewal

Jason Moran
(Scott Suchman)

Sergio A. Mims writes:

I'm sure you will be interested in this.

Sergio

The Washington Post        

By Nelson Pressley, Published: May 6

The Kennedy Center announced Tuesday that it is extending its contract with pianist and composer Jason Moran, 39, the center’s artistic adviser for jazz since 2011. Moran is being renewed for another three years with a bump in title to artistic director for jazz, the designation held by the center’s longtime jazz figurehead, Billy Taylor, until his death in 2010.

“It shows our confidence in what Jason has done for the Kennedy Center, and what he is going to do,” says Darrell Ayers, the center’s vice president of education and jazz.

Moran, a 2010 MacArthur fellow, has made a point of courting younger audiences and working across genres. A signature project is the Crossroads Club in the atrium upstairs, which features standing room only, a dance floor and a bar. (Now in its second season, Crossroads originally was called the Supersized Jazz Club.)