Under the auspices of the Chris Byars and Ari Roland Sextet, this visit featured the smooth baritone voice of singing virtuoso Marion Cowings

“Jazz Futures,” a bicommunal group of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot jazz musicians, gave public performances to packed houses at concert auditoriums in both communities during the week of September 21, 2009. Under the auspices of the Chris Byars and Ari Roland Sextet, this visit featured the smooth baritone voice of singing virtuoso Marion Cowings. During two evenings of public concerts, the large, enthusiastic crowds enjoyed the enormous talent of the band and Mr. Cowings, who also spent the week leading bicommunal master classes and workshops for local musicians. Many of the students from those classes shared what they learned by performing with the Chris Byars and Ari Roland Sextet on stage. The concerts also attracted significant television and print media coverage.

“Jazz Futures” is sponsored by the U.S. Embassy’s Bicommunal Support Program. Since it began in June 2008, “Jazz Futures,” which includes rigorous training and jam sessions, has succeeded in building island-wide musical bridges between the two communities: participants who knew little or nothing about the “other” community are now working together and performing on a weekly basis in venues on both sides of the dividing “Green Line.”