John Gilbreath photo by Bill Uznay

Letter from the Director

Thank You!

As we get ready to close out another calendar year here at Earshot Jazz, we are all about gratitude. This year has been incredible, and we are so grateful for every aspect of the thriving jazz community that we serve.

Having just closed out our biggest and most successful jazz festival ever, we are still thunderstruck over the quality of the music, the size and eagerness of the audiences, the generous enthusiasm of our community partners, and the open channels of education that assure an even brighter future for us all. The Earshot Jazz Festival has been Seattle’s major jazz festival for 27 years. We are the Seattle Jazz Festival.

Since Earshot’s first full year of operation in 1985, the organization has been on parallel trajectories of service that have taken us both deeper into our home community and wider into the world of jazz. That the lineup for the annual Earshot festivals always consists of a higher percentage of Seattle artists is a point of pride for us, as is the legacy of one-of-a-kind concerts by world-famous jazz artists whom we’ve presented over the years. The resulting benefits have accrued not just for the jazz fans in Seattle, but for the entire cultural community, and our very civic identity.

I’d like to extend special thanks to our hard-working crew: Karen Caropepe and Caitlin Peterkin, here in the office; Levi Gillis and Evan Woodle, on production; Soohye Jang and Connor Creighton, festival interns; Schraepfer Harvey, on words and muscle; Peter Monaghan and Carl Lierman on the fantastic brochure; and all of the brilliant and devoted volunteers who dedicate so many hours to the cause.
We invite you to join us in this work. Make a donation, attend some concerts, and, by all means, contact us with your questions and suggestions. The doors are open here in Fremont, and you can always reach us by e-mail at jazz@earshot.org. Check out our brand new website at www.earshot.org for updates and information.

Thanks for a great year!

– John Gilbreath, Executive Director