Overton High School music students will have the unique opportunity to learn from award-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater on Monday,  September 8. Bridgewater, a Grammy and Tony award-winning performer, will visit Overton as part of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’s Jazz in the Classroom program.

Students will first attend a concert featuring Bridgewater, accompanied by professional musicians, at 11:10 a.m. Then, Bridgewater will teach a master class for vocal students at 12:40 p.m., while the Thelonious Monk rhythm section leads a class in the jazz band studio. During the classes, students will participate in hands-on activities as they learn more about the musical techniques of jazz.

“Part of our mission at Overton is to facilitate discovery of America's original music form through performance," said Greg Billings, Vice Principal and director of the school’s Creative and Performing Arts program. "Partnering with the Thelonious Monk Institute makes it possible to bring artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater to our school, which helps inspire students to continue their study in the arts, apply their creativity and learn jazz language through performance."

Overton’s performing arts program is no stranger to success. The Overton Jazz Ensemble was awarded second place at the 2014 Savannah Music Festival "Swing Central" High School Jazz Competition, and the school also has an award winning choir, orchestra and wind ensemble. Additionally, in recent years, 100 percent of Overton’s music students who applied for a scholarship in music at the university level received scholarship offers. Recent Overton graduates include Kameron Whalum, member of Bruno Mars' Hooligans, David Parks, Jr., bassist with Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber, Wendy Moten, a renowned vocalist, and others.

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, a nonprofit jazz education organization, was founded in 1986 in memory of the legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. The Monk Institute's worldwide, highly regarded Jazz in the Classroom programs are designed to help elementary, middle, high school and college students develop an understanding of and appreciation for jazz music.