Daily Inspiration: Meet Anna Gersh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Gersh

Hi Anna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
As of August this year I became the new Executive Director of the A2 Jazz Fest. Prior to this I worked as a classroom teacher for 20 years; then worked as an evaluator of educational programs and with teams at Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University as an educational researcher. I also had my own organization called the One Love Symposium (https://www.onelovesymposium.com/) which formed in 2019 to provide research opportunities for area youth. This organization created large-scale public arts & educational events built around social justice issues. We hosted events in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit, worked with over 100 artists and business partners to support public learning opportunities for ALL!

A central goal I have for developing the A2 Jazz Fest is to differentiate the Fest by focusing on the mind-expanding aspects of Jazz music. Jazz Music is generally thought of as an intellectual music – interesting to arty and brainy types, but I think everyone has something to gain from things that open our minds. In my directors message, recently published in the A2 Jazz Fest newsletter, I described this:

“Jazz actively builds transferable thinking skills by inviting both the musicians and the audience to co-create their musical experience. This mutual energy exchange spurs the imagination of the musician and the listener, reminding us that we are a critical part of the performance. It’s an invitation to listen deeply, to recognize artistic contributions and to engage with the process of creation. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that jazz music has a deep intellectual heritage – legends of jazz like Alice Coltrane and John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Thelonious Monk have built this deep intellectual reputation by connecting their listeners not just to great music, but to great ideas including but not limited to the harmonics of the universe and Eastern philosophy.

Ann Arbor also has a longstanding tradition of high level thinking. Home to the world famous University of Michigan and the historic “people’s college,” at Washtenaw Community College – both with well established jazz programs; as well as the award-winning Community High Jazz Program, it’s only fitting that OUR jazz fest would celebrate the link between jazz music and expanding the mind.

In addition to offering exciting performances by living jazz legends and masters of the art form, (Joshua Redmond, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Bill Charlap) the 2024 A2 Jazz Fest will feature a boundary pushing performance by NeuroArts Productions, a science/arts collective based at the University of Michigan that uses music to gain a greater understanding of neural pathways in the brain. We are super-excited about a collaboration with the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, Fun Exhibits and the Michigan Firehouse Museum! The 2024 A2 Jazz Fest will be sponsoring the Traveling Sound Museum, a highly interactive combination of physical activities, sound experiments and friendly competition to introduce area youth to the physics of sound. Look for details and opportunities to check it out in September.

As an educator and lifelong Ann Arbor resident, I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this important work! As executive director, I will bring focus on non-profit development, fundraising, and event support for an established team of musicians, sound engineers, volunteers and music lovers who have built the A2 Jazz Fest into a significant contribution in Ann Arbor’s long history of high quality arts festivals.

The A2 Jazz Fest is the creation of Dave Sharp. He is the Artistic Director for the Blue LLama Jazz Club, band leader, composer and also my husband. Our son, Elvin Sharp, is also a musician. A saxophonist, in the Michigan jazz tradition! He will lead a quartet at this year’s A2 Jazz Fest on Sunday 10/06/24 at Kerrytown Concert house.

One thing we understand as a family is that strong and mutually supportive relationships are the foundation of all high functioning systems, including successful arts festivals. That’s why the A2 Jazz Fest has made it a priority since its inception to feature local musicians. When Dave first talked about doing this it was because he wanted to feature the amazing group of musicians who were living in Ann Arbor. The festival has grown in popularity and has been able to showcase more widely known acts. We are so excited to continue to center an exciting collection of Ann Arbor-based musicians and partners!”

The fact that A2 Jazz Fest was looking for an administrator seemed perfectly fit to my previous experience in the arts and education and now we can work together as a family!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
So far things have been great – but It’s only been a month…

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
On the road to the A2Jazz Fest I’ve had a lot of interesting work experiences. I helped write the bylaws for Ann Arbor’s Independent Community Police Oversight Commission, I worked on the Sheriff’s commission on 21st Century Policing – it was actually those experiences that pushed my creation of the One Love Symposium – our first project was built around the questions, “What does a doctor, teacher or police officer need to KNOW to be GOOD at their job. That work led to a professional learning curriculum called the Human Services Professional which used the structure of the One Love research project and applied it to Human Services work in an effort to open people’s minds to difference – how to learn about others to serve them best. Those One Love project kids collected the foundational data that informed that work. One of them actually helped me teach the class and got school credit for it! Last year we trained several regional managers with Michigan Works. Currently I also serve as Board President for Groundcover News – a local “street paper” where folks who are confronting issues of chronic poverty are able to learn job skills, use their voice and work with dignity.

I’ve worked in education for over 30 years and while the A2 Jazz fest is a bit of a departure, I’ve always infused my teaching and professional consulting work with the arts. But without a doubt the work I did with the One Love Symposium is my most proud achievement. It gave me a deep sense of Washtenaw County and our vast education and support resources. I’ve met a lot of great people and learned a ton. I hope this work will give me more opportunities to continue that learning and that service.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was the only kid my age on the block – there were much older kids and much younger kids so I went back and forth between the groups – the older kids taught me to run things and I used to get the younger ones to do plays and games and things – its good to be on the outside sometimes it teaches you to be a learner and a listener

Contact Info:

• Website: https://a2jazzfest.com/
• Instagram: a2jazzfest
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/a2jazzfest/
• Twitter: https://x.com/a2jazzfest
• Youtube: @a2jazzfest673