With focus on increasing music education access worldwide, Gia Maione Prima Foundation has proudly announced a new partnership with New York City-based Horns to Havana. Jumping on board with the effort, Trombone Shorty Foundation has and will continue to support the partnership.

Horns to Havana is a program that formed in 2010 to first address the instrument deficit in Cuba. The program works to support young Cuban musicians and strengthen the ties between the US and Cuba through shared music traditions. Over the last nine years, Horns to Havana has expanded to also offer annual Jazz Amistad music residencies with leading professional jazz musicians and organizational partners, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Stanford Jazz Workshop and Preservation Hall Foundation. The program is building the first jazz curriculum for Cuba’s music schools and has worked with Cuba to create the first free-standing instrument repair shop of the island.

The collaboration began in January when Trombone Shorty Foundation’s Executive Director Bill Taylor traveled to Cuba with the Horns to Havana team to take part in an instrument donation program that sent eight new horns to music students in one of the partner schools of Horns to Havana, Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán. The school is a leading music school in Cuba that is based in the country’s capital. Since then, the Prima Foundation has committed to continue their efforts in Cuba with Horns to Havana for the next three years.

“We know how profound the cultural ties are between New Orleans and Cuba,” said Prima Foundation Trustee Anthony Sylvester. “So having Horns to Havana and the Trombone Shorty Foundation working with us to strengthen music education in one of the most musical places on the planet offers a powerful opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of these talented young students.”

Working together in recent years, the Prima and Shorty foundations have shared efforts in expanding the music education landscape in New Orleans. This new collaboration with Horns to Havana will open doors in America and in Cuba, creating connections and ties from one student to another and expanding music education.

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