The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation unwrapped a gift to the city on Friday — complete with a giant red bow. City officials, musicians, and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival founder George Wein cut the ribbon on the George and Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center.
The former funeral home in the 1200 block of Rampart Street has been redeveloped as a jazz education center. Free classes for budding musicians will be held in rooms full of instruments, music stands, and screens for digital and remote learning.
The project cost nearly $9 million, most of it coming from the Jazz and Heritage Festival. It will be the permanent home of the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music, a program the foundation has run since 1990.