Just up the mountain from the Coachella Valley, the gorgeous town of Idyllwild will soon welcome visitors to Idyllwild Arts Academy for Jazz in the Pines.
Part concert series, part fundraiser, the Jazz in the Pines features the academy’s students performing alongside music greats, including Grammy Award winners. The two-week festival will run from June 30 through July 13—for one final time.
During a recent phone interview with Pamela Jordan, president of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation, she discussed how Jazz in the Pines came to be, three decades ago.
“They started with the one-day festival, and at the time, it was sponsored by and hosted by a group called the Associates of Idyllwild Arts Foundation,” Jordan said. “They actually hosted it for 20 years before turning it over to the school to run, although it’s been on our campus the entire time. Dr. Marshall Hawkins (co-founder of Jazz in the Pines) was very well-known, having played with Miles Davis and Richie Cole and many other greats. They took it the next year to a two-day festival, and then it turned into a three-day festival, running several stages at a time. We sought to change the format of it for the 25th anniversary, because it happened at a time on our campus when there were no students, and we really wanted our students to benefit from these jazz greats who were coming up and playing on our campus.
“We took a hiatus after the 25th anniversary—not knowing that COVID was coming. We did come back in 2022, and we moved the festival from early August to early July, when we have about 70 jazz students in our summer program on our campus. We have John Daversa, who is a Grammy winner, and Wayne Bergeron, another Grammy (nominee), coming up specifically for that jazz camp.”
Jordan explained why this year’s Jazz in the Pines, the 30th edition of the festival, will be the last.
“It was a really tough decision to make, and in fact, Marshall Hawkins, who’s turning 85 years old this year, when I was talking to him about the possibility of this, he looked at me and simply said, ‘Mission accomplished,’” Jordan said. “… It became very clear that we needed to return our attention back to our primary purpose, and that’s concentrating on teaching and learning and the health and wellness of our students. We needed to provide more resources to students, even in our summer program, but especially in our academy. We needed to provide more support, and we needed to ensure that we returned to arts education excellence following a pandemic. … It’s a very difficult decision, but we know it’s the right decision. We can already see our students returning to their vibrant selves when they come to campus. It was a tough decision, but well worth it if it meant caring for our students in a way that they need it.”
While Jazz in the Pines is great for attendees to enjoy great weather and even better music, the festival provides priceless education to all of the students involved.
“During the summer program, when Jazz in the Pines happens, the students really are in the presence of legends,” Jordan said. “… I mentioned John Daversa, who’s an incredible trumpeter, and those students in Wayne Bergeron’s group. Students are broken out into different bands, and they actually have two concerts during the Jazz in the Pines period. I’ve heard them play music that John Daversa wrote and created, that I’ve heard his big band play, so they’re touching music and being directed by jazz legends, and that’s a very rare occurrence. It can’t happen on a regular basis in an academy, because you just don’t have access to people like that all the time. You can just tell the difference. They have their first concert at the end of their first week, and it’s good—but by the time they have their second concert, you can just see so much incredible growth from those students.”
Festival attendees are often awed by the level of talent exhibited by Idyllwild Arts Academy students.
“We have nearly 300 students that come from over 30 countries, so they’re very, very talented in our academy. In the summer, you get a lot of parents and visitors who are not familiar with our students, so when they hear them play, they’re very impressed,” Jordan said. “There’s also something about this particular setting, and (attendees) see and hear how being in the woods and being in nature really complements what the students are doing. … The feedback from the visitors seeing the students is, ‘I can’t believe these are high school students.’”
Jordan explained how the academy attracts such top-notch students.
“These students have to audition or have a portfolio review to get into the school, and that means that nobody is pointing them on this path,” Jordan said. “They know that they are an artist, and they want to pursue that path, and they want to do it with other young people who also have a passion in the arts. It doesn’t necessarily mean they want a career in that, but they’re very passionate about art and creativity, and they want to be in that environment. … That’s part of the immersion that an academy student gets. While they are learning their craft—learning to play their instrument, or learning to be a visual artist—they’re also doing it with roommates from other parts of the country.”
Jordan prides herself in the fact that students leave Idyllwild Arts Academy as “citizen artists.”
“We have a program that we call Art in Society. No matter how long a student is here, we want to make sure they’re thinking about who they are as a creative being, and what impact they want to have in the world,” she said. “We call them ‘citizen artists,’ and we have a weekly assembly in the academy that we call an all school gathering, and it ends every week, as it has since the beginning of our academy, with the head of school saying, ‘Remember who you are,’ and the students respond, ‘And what you stand for.’ That’s at the center and the heart of what they do now. They go out and they become incredible professionals, both in the arts and outside of the arts. … There are many art schools around the country, but the difference here is that you emerge as a citizen artist.”
Jordan encouraged people unfamiliar with the Idyllwild Arts Academy to learn more.
“It feels like no matter what we do, not enough people know about it, or they think about Idyllwild Arts as a very narrow experience,” Jordan said. “(People think that) if you go and study the arts, then you only have one path forward for your career, but that is not true. I think people should make a trip up to Idyllwild and make a trip to our campus; all of our performances throughout the year are free and open to the public, so you can see. Our theater students just did an incredible production of Cabaret. Our film department has an IdyFilm Award ceremony that is up there with the Academy Awards. They have put it together with a house band and opening singers. There are always things going on at the campus for people to get a better understanding of who we are—and, of course, we hope that they support us.
“Most importantly, Idyllwild Arts is a very special place for the right student. If parents know that their child is creative and interested in being in an environment where creativity is really the center, I hope they consider enrolling.”
Jazz in the Pines will take place Sunday, June 30, through Saturday, July 13, at Idyllwild Arts Academy, 52500 Temecula Road, No. 38, in Idyllwild-Pine Cove. Ticket prices vary, with some shows being free. Some events take place off-campus. For a complete schedule and tickets, visit idyllwildarts.org/jazz-in-the-pines.
