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Cavitch Attorney, Max Dehn, Honored as 2019 JazzFest Legend

On Behalf of | Sep 15, 2019 | Firm News

Cavitch is proud to congratulate one of our own attorneys and shareholders, Max Dehn, for being honored as a 2019 JazzFest Legend. Max received this recognition at the Tri-C Foundation JazzFest Legends Gala on June 27 in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square in Cleveland.

Max is a lifelong fan and advocate of jazz and American music. Before law school, he engaged his passion professionally, producing concerts and music festivals, developing educational programs, and raising funds for low income child care programs through concert events. As a student at the University of Michigan, Max coordinated Eclipse Jazz, a student run concert production cooperative. With Eclipse, Max produced concerts with internationally recognized artists including Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. Later, he co-directed the Jazz for Life Project in Ann Arbor. Working with well-known artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Branford Marsalis, and Steve Allen, Jazz for Life raised funds for programs that supported low income mothers and children.

2019 Tri-C JazzFest Legend

In 1989, Max moved home to Cleveland, to join the Tri-C JazzFest staff as artistic director and producer. For twelve years Max worked to further the mission of the JazzFest to serve as a center of teaching, performance and technology programs in Northeast Ohio. With JazzFest, Max produced legendary festivals that featured international and regional artists. He also developed teaching programs and community collaborations that have had a lasting effect in the jazz and creative arts community.

While at Tri-C, Max initiated the Excellence in Music Project (“EMP”), in collaboration with the Cleveland School of the Arts, Cuyahoga Community College, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Engaging Oberlin students and regional jazz artists, EMP initially provided private lessons and ensembles to Cleveland Municipal School District students. Soon, students from throughout the region were participating in what became a renowned performance program.

Building on the success of EMP, Max worked with JazzFest Founder Thom Horning, PhD to college level jazz studies and recording arts programs at Tri-C. The Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for the Creative Arts at the Tri-C Metro Campus is, in great part, a legacy of that work.

Max Dehn was honored as a 2019 JazzFest legend along with Margot James Copeland, chair and CEO of the KeyBank Foundation and Joe Hunter, pianist and jazz educator. Congratulations to all three JazzFest Legends and thank you for your contributions to the creative arts.

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