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South Beach Jazz Festival Mission Statement
The South Beach Jazz Festival takes place in multiple venues throughout Miami Beach over four days in January. The mission of disability awareness is projected through a festival that takes pride in presenting world-renowned musicians from the entire spectrum of jazz including traditional, contemporary, and Latin American cutting edge acts. Many of the performances are free and open to the public and outdoors. The sounds of Jazz enliven the city all weekend long and draw residents and tourists to listen, learn and celebrate accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities. From disability to serendipity.
More About the Festival
The festival attracts locals, tourists, serious jazz fans, beachgoers and Lincoln Road shoppers. We are pleased to report that 2022 was an amazing success. Approximately 63% of attendees are from Miami-Dade County and 65% of our out of county visitors stay overnight in the area. 81% of attendees are over the age of 35 and over. The average income of attendees is $72,000 with 39% over $100,000. 99% of attendees rate the festival good and excellent! (2020 Survey Results provided by Touch Poll South Florida).
The Annual South Beach Jazz Festival takes place in January with multiple performances throughout Miami Beach. There are opportunities to sponsor as a Festival Title Sponsor, as a Headliner Sponsor and as a Spotlight sponsor.
Power Access Mission Statement
The South Beach Jazz Festival is the annual signature event of Power Access, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, humanitarian organization. Our mission is to bring awareness to the community about people living with disabilities and to provide opportunities for those people. To realize that we all have challenges and that tolerance and understanding is paramount. To fulfill that mission, the organization celebrates inclusion, awareness and accessibility in the arts by presenting high-quality programming in all its variations throughout the City of Miami Beach and showcasing the abilities of amazing artists.
Our programs include collaborations with corporations, other non-profits, local business associations, neighborhood associations and local government. Events have included Dining in the Dark, Disability Awareness Day, the annual Power Access Scholarship Jazz Brunch, Miami Beach On-Stage!, pop-up performances and our signature event, the South Beach Jazz Festival. We are continuously looking to develop partnerships and programs to further our mission and provide opportunities to showcase artists with disabilities in all areas – in the performing arts from music to dance, in the fine arts from painting to sculpture, and more. If you would like to discuss how you or your organization can become involved in our current programs as well as future new program possibilities, please send us a message.
For more information on Power Access, please click here.
About The Festival
The South Beach Jazz Festival takes places in venues throughout Miami Beach over three days during January. Classic, Latin and New Orleans styles of Jazz are featured. Most of the performances are free, open to the public and outdoors. The sounds of Jazz enliven the city all weekend long and draw locals and guests from around the world to listen, linger and enjoy.
The festival attracts locals, tourists, serious jazz fans, beachgoers and Lincoln Road shoppers. We are pleased to report that 2022 was an amazing success. Approximately 63% of attendees are from Miami-Dade County and 65% of our out of county visitors stay overnight in the area. 81% of attendees are over the age of 35 and over. The average income of attendees is $72,000 with 39% over $100,000. 99% of attendees rate the festival good and excellent!
The Annual South Beach Jazz Festival takes place in January with multiple performances throughout Miami Beach. There are opportunities to sponsor as a Festival Title Sponsor, as a Headliner Sponsor and as a Spotlight sponsor.
“From Disability to Serendipity”
*2020 Survey Results provided by Touch Poll South FloridaAbout The Founder
About The Founder
R. David New
President of the Board & Founder, Power Access
Artistic Director, South Beach Jazz Festival
Twenty years ago, a rare disease rendered David New deaf, blind, and paralyzed from the waist down. Rejecting his doctors’ terminal diagnosis, defying all odds, David learned to walk again and gradually regained his hearing, though he did not regain his sight.
Multi-talented, he has since become a steadfast advocate for people with disabilities, creates glass sculptures, founded several companies and non-profits, and has embarked on an exciting venture, the South Beach Jazz Festival, www.sobejazzfestival.com.
David was born and raised in Philadelphia and began his university studies at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He continued his education at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. An artist at heart, David worked in his family’s furniture business while creating his own interior design firm, R. David New Interior Design. He relocated to South Florida in 2000 and continued pursuing his passion for art and design.
“As a visual artist my whole life, I was missing a component. I had to rethink everything. I got more involved in the community. I started new organizations and non-profits,” adds David.
David works tirelessly to break down barriers and to educate people about living and working with people with disabilities. In addition to serving as president of Power Access Inc. and Ability Explosion®, he was chairman of the Miami Beach Disability Access Committee for six years until January 2016, where he is still instilled as a member. David was the founder of the Miami Beach Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the Florida Council and the American Council of the Blind. In 2012, he took over Access Now Inc., which is an advocacy organization for enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. With Access Now, David is working to build the first fully accessible art museum in the world located in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Through Power Access and Access Now, his two non-profit organizations, David provides programs and produces experiential events centered around building awareness of the challenges faced by people with disabilities, including Dining in the Dark, Disability Awareness Day and the South Beach Jazz Festival.
David recently reignited his lifelong passion for creating art when he learned about a new 3-D laser technology for creating laser-etched glass sculptures, a perfect medium for his visionary mind and imagination. He was introduced to the machinery, serendipitously located in Miami – the only one of its kind in the country. He designs the concept, the imagery, dimensions, and presentations, as well as the polished stainless-steel bases and glass specifications. David’s work has been exhibited in art galleries, at Art Basel Miami and he has plans to open a gallery on Miami Beach.
Click here to listen to an Apple podcast featuring David New.
R. David New: The Choice to Defy the Odds
Permission To Choose
