Don’t miss a beat: Jazz drummer identifies ways to connect young people with performing arts

Ulysses Owens Jr., from Jacksonville, Fla., has been playing the drums since he was 2 years old.

“I grew up playing in what some would call the charismatic church, Pentecostal church, in the African-American community,” Owens said in a visit with the Center for the Performing Arts staff. “Grew up doing that, come from a family of preachers and all that. That’s how I got exposed to music.”

Two decades later, Owens graduated from The Julliard School’s then-brand-new jazz studies program.

“(I) was accepted as the first African-American and drummer that ever stepped foot in Julliard in their almost 100-year history, and that was back in 2001,” Owens said. “Since then, I’ve been on this journey, you know, essentially building my career as a drummer.”

Now a faculty member at Julliard, Owens has performed on three Grammy Award-winning albums and published four books. Owens’ upcoming album will be a Nirvana jazz album, after his band’s cover of “Heart Shaped Box” by the 1990s grunge band went viral last year.

In 2008, Owens started a nonprofit in his hometown, Don’t Miss a Beat. was founded by Owens in 2008. He said he read about the student dropout rate and other youth issues in his area, and he decided to create a program to help kids stay in school so they wouldn’t “miss a beat.”

“(The) goal for me then was just exposing kids to the arts, to the performing arts,” Owens said.

Don’t Miss a Beat started with a focus on instrumental music instruction, but he realized it wasn’t financially sustainable for the target audience.

“You’ve got (families) who, socioeconomically, they’re struggling to keep the lights on, (so) they don’t have $30 to keep their saxophone in shape,” Owens said.

After almost a decade of that, Owens said he was looking to switch things up.

“How can I shape this organization to include a discipline that these kids can do that doesn’t require anything of the parents?” Owens said. “Like they can just drop the kids off and we can handle everything else?”

The answer: musical theater.

“Everybody could participate on some level, because everybody comes into the world with a voice, and the ability to move, and the ability to emote,” Owens said.

Don't Miss a Beat started putting on musical productions, including “The Lion King,” “Moana” and “In the Heights.”

Owens said it was also important the organization focus on his students’ needs. He said there is a hot lunch waiting for students when they arrive at Don’t Miss a Beat’s center in the afternoon.

“They get to eat, sit, commune, hang out with each other,” he said. “Then they go into the artistic practice. And then on their way home, we send them with a snack. … I would say meet the need and then the talent second, and you will see your program expand.”

While Don’t Miss a Beat serves youths in the Jacksonville area, one of Owens’ biggest passions is for students to experience the arts live, in-person, and on the local level, especially in today’s increasingly digital world.

“I think the more opportunities we can have for students to interface with creatives creating in real time. I know that sounds sort of facetious, but we’re living in a day where AI is taking over everything, right?” Owens said. “So, to have students still get that tactile experience of performing, and creativity unfolding minute by minute in front of them, I think is really incredible.”

During his time on campus, Owens will workshop with Penn State’s Centre Dimensions. The Penn State student big-band jazz ensemble, directed by Joshua Davis, is comprised of mostly music majors.

Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Visit Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band online for more info or to purchase tickets.

Alex Fischer is a communications intern for the Center for the Performing Arts.