Open Jazz Arts Master Class 

In this free Open Jazz Arts Master Class, Carol Maillard of the award winning SWEET HONEY AND THE ROCK, and Artistic Director, Eli Yamin, guide young performers to tell their story and sing soulfully. Select participants will be invited to join Zah! Jazz Youth (ages 12-20), a group that receives professional training and performs Jazz Musicals in the New York City area supported by the Jazz Drama Program!

Carol Maillard was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although she originally attended Catholic University of America on scholarship as a Violin Performance major, she soon began writing music and performing with the drama department and eventually changed her major to Theater.  Carol became an accomplished actress and has performed in film, television, cabaret and on stage. Her theater credits encompass a wide range of styles from musical comedy and revues to drama and experimental. She has worked on Broadway in DONT GET GOD STARTED , ITS SO NICE TO BE CIVILIZED, COMIN UPTOWN , HOME and EUBIE; off-Broadway with the Negro Ensemble Company, the New York Shakespeare Festival and at the Actors Studio and many regional theatre productions. Recently she Reprised her role as Woman Two for a staged reading of Samm Art Williams Tony nominated play HOME for Project 1Voice.

This passion for the stage brought her to the D.C. Black Repertory Company and the beginnings of the vocal ensemble that was to become SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK. Sweet Honey In The Rock® is a performance ensemble rooted in African American history and culture. The ensemble educates, entertains and empowers its audience and community through the dynamic vehicles of a cappella singing and American Sign Language interpretation for the Deaf and hearing impaired. Sweet Honey’s audience and community comes from diverse backgrounds and cultures throughout the United States and around the world, and includes people of all ages, economic/education/social backgrounds, political persuasions, religious affiliations, sexual preferences and differing abilities.

Carol served as Conceptual and Creative producer for the 2005 documentary film SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK: RAISE YOUR VOICE ! on the PBS series American Masters. Produced and directed by Stanley Nelson, the film chronicled SWEET HONEY’s 30th Anniversary year. She also produced the accompanying soundtrack for the film.

The Jazz Drama Program is a New York City-based not for profit 501 (c) (3) organization committed to growing imaginative, diverse and compassionate communities through education in jazz music, theatre and dance. The Jazz Drama Program was founded in 2003 by jazz musician/educator Eli Yamin and writer/educator Clifford Carlson. Since then, thousands of young people in New York City, across the US and around the world have made friends with jazz and in jazz through participating in The Jazz Drama Program. 

Eli Yamin

Artistic Director Eli Yamin is a pianist, composer, singer, and educator who has been spreading the joy of jazz through his work for 30 years including 10 years as founding director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy. Eli tours with his blues band and jazz quartet, has released several CD's and has performed at The White House, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and over 20 countries as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Eli sincerely believes learning about jazz should feel as creative as playing jazz and consistently shares this experience with students of all ages.