LaPorta Award Presented at JEN

On January 8, President Roger Brown presented the John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award to Utah music educator Caleb Chapman at the annual Jazz Education Network (JEN)Conference in New Orleans. The award was created to recognize outstanding music educators with five or more years of classroom experience who represent the highest standards of teaching. The award includes a $2,500 honorarium, a package of equipment, music for the recipient’s music program, and a visit to the recipient’s school by a Berklee clinician.

Chapman, founder of the Music School, is the current president of Caleb Chapman Music, and directs more than 100 of Utah’s most talented young musicians in five elite ensembles, including the award-winning Crescent Super Band.

The award is named in memory of the late jazz education pioneer John LaPorta, who taught at Berklee for 35 years and became one of college’s most respected and influential educators. In presenting the award, Brown said, “John LaPorta was one of the founding fathers of jazz education and a cornerstone of the modern Berklee. He was a virtuoso musician who played with Parker, Mingus, Tristano, and Stravinsky but got his real kicks guiding young musicians, helping them play together and improve. Caleb Chapman is a worthy and deserving recipient of this award.”