After many years of planning and development, NEW YORK JAZZ ACADEMY is proud to announce a collaboration with a new PBS Television series that will bring the original music of NYJA director Javier Arau and the performing contributions of several NYJA faculty artists to the small screen. Over the past several years, Arau, a composer and saxophonist, has composed the music for a series of documentary films produced by ByKids.org, a New York based nonprofit organization. In conjunction with THIRTEEN, the flagship station of PBS the television series FILMS BYKIDS will share the voice of five young filmmakers from different cultures with a wider audience through the power and reach of public media.
 
Emmy-nominated actress Ashley Judd serves as series narrator, introducing each 30-minute film in the five-part series that offers a perspective rarely seen in mainstream media. The young storytellers featured in FILMS BYKIDS grew up experiencing the effects of exile, illiteracy, disease, war and bigotry. They include: the 17- year-old exiled king of Tibet; a girl from rural India, striving for an education; an orphan in Mozambique, who lost both parents to AIDS; a girl from Colombia displaced by civil war; and a Yemeni immigrant in New York, bullied because of her Islamic identity.
 
“Javier takes rough cuts of our films and finds the emotional translation through music. He brings vast knowledge of world music to each composition and we are proud to have him on the BYkids team as FILMS BYKIDS premieres on PBS,” says Founder and Executive Director of BYkids Holly Carter. Arau’s scoring process included assembling live ensembles that would help highlight each film’s cultural themes. NEW YORK JAZZ ACADEMY faculty artists who contributed performances include Colombian guitarist Alejandro Florez, guitarist Tom Dempsey, flutist Erica von Kleist, bassist Lindsey Horner, and guest percussionist Jonathan Mele.
 
Each film in the series was directed by a child who was mentored by a leading filmmaker (the late Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Salesman, Gimme Shelter), Neal Baer (Under the Dome, Law and Order SVU, ER) and Joyce Chopra (Smooth Talk), among others) during the filmmaking process. The FILMS BYKIDS series companion website will offer streaming video of the five films at http://thirteen.org/filmsbykids. Resources for educators designed to engage students in meaningful conversations about world issues will be available on PBS LearningMedia, beginning January 19, 2016.
 
New York Jazz Academy has previously partnered with the Smithsonian Institute, the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center, DreamYard, Save The Children, and other organizations in an effort to foster communication and development in music and culture, both in NYC and beyond. For more information about NEW YORK JAZZ ACADEMY programming and opportunities, visit https://nyjazzacademy.com or call (718) 426-0633.