Marshall Hawkins will bring pros from all over Southern California to perform Jazz Standards along with some of the Valley’s finest young musicians.

Hawkins founded Seahawk MoJO (Modern Jazz Orchestra) as a nonprofit organization created to share jazz and classical sounds with kids who are just starting to discover their musical aptitude.

In the late 1960s and ’70s, Hawkins played bass with legends such as The Miles Davis Quintet, Shirley Horn and Roberta Flack before forming his own quintet.

Along with many artists over the decades, Hawkins made Idyllwild his home in 1978. He is widely credited with establishing the jazz studies program at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in 1986. At that time, the Academy (a program of USC) and Elliott-Pope Preparatory School across Highway 243, where Hawkins was coaching, worked jointly to provide academics and arts.

Seahawk MoJO is composed of former students and alumni of the academy who play when and where they are able as well as other musicians.

“That’s what makes it so unique,” Hawkins said. “The students are able to come back and play with the teachers. Any other group can come join the orchestra, too.” He added there can be as few as seven people and as many as 35, but each performance exposes the kids to connections between music and society.

Hawkins said the program is not meant to turn all kids into professional musicians but to make them cognizant of how important art is in their lives.

MUSIC AT THE CENTER is a fundraiser for The DVAC and its programs. Contact dvacinfo@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities.  Guests enjoy access to the current gallery exhibition as well as the concert.  Doors open at 6:00 pm with the concert beginning at 6:30 pm.