Purpose
The purpose of the Guelph Jazz Society is to facilitate and promote jazz culture in the city of Guelph, Ontario Canada. Jazz culture includes: jazz musicians holistically – the conditions required for their well being as well as artistic/economic flourishing; jazz music listeners and their access to and awareness of jazz music being made in Guelph; facilitators of jazz culture such as private businesses and institutions (jazz music venues, music rehearsal spaces, music education), and other arts organizations with overlapping values.
Counter Purpose
The purpose of the Guelph Jazz Society is not to become the de facto voice for, organizer of, or arbiter of jazz culture in Guelph. The society exists downstream from cultural practices.
Values
The values of the Guelph Jazz Society aim to embrace the highest ideals of jazz culture which could be summarized as:
- Honouring a deep tradition beginning with the blending of West African, Latin American, Western Performance Practice, and folk ways of the Mississippi Delta, and then the spreading of this music globally to all peoples willing to join the project of freedom for all.
- Embracing the lived experience of all people through an invitation to collaborate.
- Cultivating and propagating jazz culture while nurturing a unique place in the broader jazz culture for Guelph jazz.
- Endeavouring to create a lasting organization that can propagate the values of jazz culture to Guelph in perpetuity.
Goals
The goals are the things we do. The goals of the Guelph Jazz Society are to:
- Run public events for the development of jazz culture including, but not exclusive to:
- Jazz jam sessions.
- Dance lessons.
- Jazz concerts.
- Jazz pedagogy and performance workshops.
- Offer artistic and commercial development opportunities:
- Teaching on music industry topics.
- Artistic administration and band leadership support.
- Liaise with jazzers and the greater community to facilitate jazz culture:
- Field public inquiries about jazz cultural happenings in Guelph.
- Assist in forming and deepening personal and professional contacts.
- Conduct jazz cultural advocacy:
- Act as a voice for jazz culture in public affairs when relevant.
- Collaborate with jazz musicians to raise coordinate the improvement of their quality of life.
- Leverage jazz culture to improve the greater Guelph community where causes overlap with the
Guelph Jazz Society’s values.
The Society’s Structure
The Guelph Jazz Society is a Not For Profit Corporation registered with Corporations Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency. This charter outlines why the society operates, while it’s by-laws and governance documents describe how. The Membership of the Guelph Jazz Society is comprised of a board of governance (required by corporations Canada), and two classes of members: voting members and non-voting members.
- The board oversees the longevity of the society and manages its funds and assets.
- Any member can be a voting member if they wish, but are not required to be.