New Member Spotlight: Welcome, Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts!

Tell us a little about your organization!

The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts (PCC) has a rich 53 year history in the Philadelphia jazz community.  The PCC is a cultural organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the legacy of jazz, primarily through music education, public performance, and talent development.  The Philadelphia Clef Club Music Education Program serves 2,400 youth annually through on-site, in-school programs as well as outreach community events. Having educated over 50,000 students in its 23-year history on the Avenue of the Arts, the PCC has sent some of its students to Berklee College of Music and across the U.S. to perform among some of the nation’s most skilled musicians through the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

How have you grown as an organization?

Over the past three years, in partnership with Temple University Fox Management Consulting helped to facilitate and assess the 5 Year strategic plans for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts.  The strategic planning process helped to transform and revitalize the organization.  The Fox team guided both the Board of Directors and staff in a process that examined and made informed projections about the environmental realities to help our organization anticipate and respond to change by clarifying our mission and goals; targeting spending; and strengthening our program through sound recommendations. The entire process helped with fundraising and other aspects of operations.

What made you want to join the Cultural Alliance?

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA) believes in supporting the growth of arts organizations and their audiences, working to keep the arts in schools, preserving the diverse cultural activities in our communities and empowering arts and cultural organizations to make a difference in our neighborhoods.  The Philadelphia Clef Club believes partnerships strengthens institutional development and wants very much to partner with GPCA to benefit from all of the effective services provided by the organization.

What are you most excited about for this season?

PNC Arts Alive Jazz Cultural Voices a series of concerts and educational activities developed by the Philadelphia Clef Club to broaden audience development.  The musicians presented und the concert series are ethnically diverse nationally recognized and emerging artists.  Concerts represent musicians with diverse ethnic backgrounds of Latin, Cuban, Japanese, European, Native American, East Indian and African American influences to attract new and diverse audiences. The new initiative is being created with the intent to expose audiences to unique and surprising connections between many musical genre-crossing.