Lisa Linde (photo: René Huemer / Jazz Education Network), NSHS jazz students (photo: Theo Younkin)
For years, the jazz program at Newton South High School (NSHS) has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s best. The program’s Jazz Ensemble, directed by celebrated NSHS music educator Lisa Linde, receives top ratings at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education’s state festivals and places among the top ensembles at the Berklee School of Music High School Jazz Festival.
Linde named John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year
In February, Linde was named the 2025 John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year – a national award given annually to an outstanding jazz educator who represents the “highest standards of teaching” and brings distinction to “their institution and their students,” according to the Jazz Education Network.
Linde said that receiving the award was an incredible honor and that because there are so few women in the field of jazz education, she is thrilled that educators like her are being recognized.
“For this award, I am the third woman on the list [of recipients] that goes back to 2007,” she said. “There are many men that have a similar record to me in regards to winning jazz competitions. This award also sends the message that doing the work to create gender equity and jazz with my nonprofit JazzHers is something that is valued by the larger community.”
JazzHers aims to correct gender imbalance
Linde said that 80 to 90 percent of students in a typical high school jazz program are boys, with the gender gap increasing even more in college and professional jazz settings. Her nonprofit organization, JazzHers, creates programming to tackle the issue head-on, encouraging girls and non-binary students to pursue the genre in which they are underrepresented.
“Earlier this year, we had a no-audition honor band, where students are recommended by their teachers, and it culminates in a jazz…