Curating American Music

Opening the Spring 2017 Jazz Festival, Dr. John Edward Hasse, author and curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.  Later in the evening on Friday March 3, 2017 at 7:30pm, Dr. Hasse will perform with UMBC Jazz Ensemble. 

John Edward Hasse is a museum curator, author, and lecturer.  Since 1984, he has served as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, where he has curated exhibitions on Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles, and founded the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and international Jazz Appreciation Month.  He also a leader of Smithsonian Music.  

Hasse’s books include Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, Discover Jazz (co-editor), and Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology (co-author). 

He earned a B.A. Cum Laude from Carleton College, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University, and two Honorary Doctorates.  He has received two Grammy Award nominations and two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards.  Hasse has lectured on leadership, the arts, and music in 20 countries on six continents.  

The Jazz Festival continues on Friday, March 3, with Dr. Hasse and the UMBC Jazz Ensemble,  Harry Appelman Trio, and concludes on Saturday, March 11, with the MMEA All-State Jazz Band.