Daily Record Friday, November 27, 2009
By
Mike Johnston - Senior Writer
ELLENSBURG — Central Washington University jazz legend John Moawad, a retired music professor and well-known as director of the Jazz in the Valley music festival’s big band in Ellensburg, died Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, according to close friends. Moawad, 72, had battled cancer and its complications for several years.
For many years Moawad directed, along with CWU music professor Chris Bruya, the Jazz in the Valley’s Sunday finale performance of the All-Star Big Band, a favorite among festival goers. Many former Moawad students are part of the big band every year. Bruya, now director of CWU’s jazz studies program, also is a former Moawad student. Moawad previously was the director of jazz studies. “He really cherished his directing of the band,” Bruya said earlier this week. “It was mostly made up of his past students, and everyone looked forward to coming together again,” added Bruya, Bruya said he’s put the band together for the past five or six years and has co-directed it with Moawad. “This last July, right after the festival, John said he hasn’t felt this good in six years,” Bruya said. “It wasn’t the first time he told me how good he’s felt after directing the band. That is probably one reason he’s hung on so long: he really looked forward to being with the band.”
Looking back at when he was a music student at Central, Bruya said Moawad challenged students toward excellence, always reminding them they could be better and do better. “He was very motivational for me and everyone,” Bruya said. Bruya remembers in 1981 the CWU jazz band, with Moawad directing, took first place in the prestigious Pacific Coast Jazz Festival — which includes colleges and universities large and small.
Moawad taught at CWU from 1970 through 1998 and was considered by many as the dean of jazz educators on the West Coast who influenced a generation of jazz musicians and music educators. He was known for his challenging and charismatic teaching style that pushed students to excel in their music. He was a 1959 CWU graduate.
....... Plans are under way for a public celebration of the life of Moawad, May 16, 2010 on the CWU campus (click here for details) .
www.WenatcheMusic.com Friday, November 27, 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009 19:37 Erin Smith Local Music News
John Moawad, the long time jazz professor at Central Washington University passed away on November 22nd, after a long battle with cancer.
His students called him "Coach", and he was a great one. Throughout his long career in jazz education, he inspired thousands of young musicians, including me. I had the honor of playing in his Jazz Band I for 4 years as an undergraduate student at Central, and played lead trumpet with his group when I returned for graduate school.
Mr. Moawad had a great influence on music education in our state and our country. His groups were among the first to be fully included in the schools and he helped jazz earn its place along side orchestra, choir and concert band in the school curriculum.
"Coach" had a way of showing his students how to play and sing jazz music with honesty and integrity and his groups were amazing - year after year - winning many national awards and recognition as among the nation's finest collegiate jazz ensembles.
...... THANKS COACH - We'll miss you!
YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT "COACH" MOAWAD'S EDUCATIONAL LEGACY
John Moawad, Central Washington University professor emeritus of music, is considered by many to be the dean of jazz educators on the West Coast. John received his B.Ed. in 1959 and his M.Ed. in 1963, both from Central Washington University. An award-winning music teacher, jazz mentor, and clinician, John’s professional career at CWU lasted 28 years. Serving as the head of Central’s widely respected jazz studies program from 1970-1998, he received the CWU Distinguished Professor Award in 1984. Referred to often as coach, teacher, mentor, and father figure, Moawad has touched the lives of future musicians in ways they never thought possible. His reach includes the many high school students who have taken part in the John Moawad Invitational Jazz Festival at Central, the CWU students who studied under him or took his memorable History of Jazz class, and all the jazz fans and musicians who now support "Jazz in the Valley" every summer in Ellensburg.
Central Washington University continues to build on the legacy Professor Moawad started nearly four decades ago by supporting an endowed scholarship in his name to benefit future generations of jazz students.
Donations from friends and alumni are important in strengthening this legacy. Please consider making a gift to the John Moawad Jazz Scholarship.
To make a gift on line, please visit the CWU Music Department's giving page. To direct your gift, select John Moawad Jazz Scholarship in the drop down gift designation box.
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