Initial visits by Music’s jazz and Latin music programs to the Instituto Profesional Projazz in Santiago, Chile, have led to an agreement to continue developing further collaborations on teaching and research projects. An official memorandum of understanding just signed in Santiago states that ProJazz and the Texas State College of Fine Arts and Communication “will promote cooperation and collaboration / of interest to both institutions”. The School of Music has already sent several faculty — Russell Haight, Hank Hehmsoth, Keith Winking, Mary Ellen Cavitt and John Lopez — and student ensembles, notably the Texas State Jazz Ensemble and Salsa del Rio, to perform and teach there. Plans are underway for Texas State to offer graduate jazz courses at ProJazz that the Chilean students can use toward master’s degrees from Texas State.
