[BHS etree] SUPT: Charles Hamilton receives Distinguished Teacher Award

[bhs at idiom.com]

Jazz Program Director Charles Hamilton named NFAA Distinguished
Teacher in the Arts

Charles Hamilton, now in his 25th year as director of the BHS Jazz
Program, has received the Distinguished Teacher in the Arts Award by
the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Already honored
as one of almost 100 teachers nominated nationally by NFAA ARTS
student winners, he is one of only two teachers selected by NFAA to
receive the Distinguished Teacher Award. He is also only the second
jazz music teacher to ever receive the award. He is in Miami Florida
this week to receive the award at the annual NFAA ARTS Week. He will
have to tell us all about it when he get's back. Tune in to an
interview with Charles Hamilton and hear the award winning BHS Jazz
Ensemble just before the school board meeting next Wednesday on the
BUSD Public Information 1/2 Hour. You can catch this as well as the
board meeting on Berkeley Cable channel 33, starting at 7PM.

See the  website, www.nfaa.org  for more information about the award,
and read the article in youngARTS Magazine,
http://youngarts.idigitaledition.com/issue.php?issue=3. Click on the
Table of Contents, scroll down to Making a Difference, and click to
read Charles story. This is an extraordinary honor for Hamilton, the
Jazz Program, and Berkeley High School. Congratulations, Charles!

Those who have followed the Jazz Ensemble over the years know that
many professional musicians developed under his leadership. At high
school jazz festivals such as the Reno Jazz Festival, Monterey
National High School Jazz Competition, and the Folsom Jazz Festival,
the Ensemble and Combos have garnered many first place awards with
multiple individual awards.
Nationally, his students have achieved recognition with the highly
competitive Grammy Band and NFAA. Many have gone on to the most
prestigious jazz programs in the country. Thanks to Charles, Berkeley
High School has an undisputed place on the jazz map. 

Congratulations also to Jazz Ensemble drummer Evan Hughes, awarded
2007 NFAA ARTS Honorable Mention in Jazz Percussion.

This year's BHS Jazz Combos swept the competition at the Redwood
Empire Jazz Festival in Santa Rosa on December 9. The Sextet (Jereme
Altenberg, Ari Chersky, Akeem Hawkins, Evan Hughes, Galen
Odell-Smedley, Samora
Pinderhughes) came in first and the Quintet (Mariel Austin, Chase
Jackson, Nathan Kersey-Wilson, David McFarlane, Nick Murphy) second.
Vibes player Chase Jackson was honored with a Soloist Award and a
Musicianship Award, winning a scholarship to Cazadero Music Camp. You
can hear both Combos at Anna's Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way in
Berkeley, on Sunday, February 4, 7:30-10:30 pm.

And coming up, mark your calendars for the BHS Jazz Program Spring
Fundraiser, Sunday, March 11, at the Alumni House at UC Berkeley.


==========================================

Mark A. Coplan
Public Information Officer, BUSD
510-644-6320
Mark_Coplan at berkeley.k12.ca.us
Berkeley Unified School District
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, Ca 94704-1180