HJR240 Summary

• Commends Fred Irby III on his 51-year career as Professor of Music at Howard University, beginning in 1974 as Coordinator of Instrumental Music, trumpet instructor, and Director of the Howard University Jazz Ensemble (HUJE).

• Recognizes HUJE's international acclaim since its 1975 founding, with performances across the United States, Europe, Central and South America, China, Japan, Africa, and the Caribbean, and notes its alumni include many celebrated jazz artists.

• Details Mr. Irby's major orchestral performances including the Twentieth Century Fox movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars, NBC-TV's America's Got Talent, Emmy Awards, Academy Awards Galas, and Kennedy Center Honors.

• Lists his professional honors including the 2008 DownBeat Magazine Achievement Award in Jazz Education, 2009 Disney Performing Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching Jazz, 2010 Lowell Mason Fellow designation, 2016 Ronnie Wells Jazz Service Award, and 2016 DC Jazz Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Acknowledges his establishment of the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award in 1996 and the endowed Abraham S. Venable Scholarship for Jazz Studies students at Howard University.