Melissa Walker, right, accepting 92NY’s Extraordinary Women, Inspiration through the Arts Award from host Juju Chang. Photo by Michael Priest Photography

(NEW YORK, NY) -- On Monday, November 18, 2024, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS founder Melissa Walker was honored with the Inspiration through the Arts Award at 92NY's Extraordinary Women Awards. Hosted by Juju Chang, Co-Anchor of ABC News' Nightline and board member of the 92nd Street Y, the event took place at 92NY's David Geffen Stage in the Kaufmann Concert Hall.

Now in its ninth year, the Extraordinary Women Awards celebrates trailblazing women leading the way and making a profound impact on the community and are changing the world for good. Past recipients have included Misty Copeland, Roxane Gay and Valeria Luiselli. The 92nd Street Y named a yearly scholarship in Melissa Walker’s name for a student jazz vocalist.

As the brainchild behind the New Jersey/New York-based community arts non-profit JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, Walker leads the nation’s preeminent jazz organization and is developing as a major jazz presenter. JAZZ HOUSE serves as an instrument for change, transforming young lives by creating avenues of access, learning, career development and community building.

You can watch Melissa Walker's story video here.

In Walker’s acceptance speech, she expressed her thanks to 92NY for being bestowed the award and thanked her husband 9-time GRAMMY Award-winning bassist Christian McBride, her board, supporters and JAZZ HOUSE team. She credited her late mother, Dr. Jeanne Marani Walker for being the first “extraordinary woman” she met and introducing her to the power of the arts.

“I believe there are no accidents in life and one’s course is a set of accumulated events,” said Walker.  “After my father passed away when I was seven, my mother would take my sisters and me on an annual trip from Alberta, Canada to New York City in our motorhome - our four day journey would find a new home in the City, where we immersed ourselves in arts and culture that uplifted and broadened our view and challenged our perspective. There I found joy and inspiration in rich cultural institutions like 92NY, setting in motion my life’s work.”

One of the surprise highlights of the evening was a spectacular performance by personal friend of Melissa and GRAMMY Award-winning Angélique Kidjo surprised her singing, “Sunlight to My Soul,” whose message speaks to the heart of the mission of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS and is up for a 2025 GRAMMY for Best Global Music Performance.

Angélique Kidjo accompanied by Etienne Stadwijk on piano. Photo by Michael Priest Photography

In addition to Walker’s Inspiration of the Arts Award, the other 2024 92NY Extraordinary Women Award honorees were Zibby Owens, Champions Award;  Erin Pond Friedman, Community Award; Marcella Hymowitz, Next Generation Leadership Award; and Sally Tannen, Impact Award in Memoriam.

Now in its third decade, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS is the only community arts organization in New Jersey and New York City exclusively dedicated to using the power and legacy of jazz through world-class education and performances that create avenues of access, learning, career development and community building. Recently featured on CBS Mornings, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and celebrated by global superstar Sting at their 2024 Ralph Pucci International annual event, the organization and students have received more than 150 awards and honors for excellence in jazz and jazz education. Fostering a unique community and culture around jazz, the JAZZ HOUSE has developed a stellar reputation for developing young talent on and off the stage.

The JAZZ HOUSE is headquartered in Montclair, NJ and has a satellite program in New York City in collaboration with Trinity Church NYC. Through a series of in-school and out of school programs in New Jersey and New York City, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS supports youth in gaining an artistic edge, fostering community leaders and global citizens who help build thriving communities. JAZZ HOUSE KiDS produces 150+ free public concerts per year to audiences close to 350,000, including the organization’s far-reaching cultural signature program, the award-winning MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL, the largest free jazz festival in the region attracting over 25,000 attendees each year.

Melissa Walker is a leading cultural voice driving national programming that uses the power of jazz education and live performance to advance youth development and community engagement. A Brown University graduate and GRAMMY Award-winning jazz vocalist, Walker has been recognized by NJBiz as one of New Jersey’s “Best 50 Women in Business,” and received a Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Hero Award. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award, which recognizes unsung heroes who demonstrate their passion and unstoppable commitment to giving back to their communities and serving the most vulnerable.

Melissa Walker with her husband, Christian McBride. Photo by Michael Priest Photography