WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis knows how important education is for youth , but what feeds their minds and souls , he says , often lies beyond traditional classroom walls . Musician Wynton Marsalis co-founded Jazz at Lincoln Center to broaden and inspire jazz audiences . `` The most essential thing for the development of kids and their understanding of the world are those things they do that 's not school-related -- just any extracurricular activity , '' the Pulitzer Prize winner said . `` When you have activities you learn at a young age , you can do whatever you put your mind to ! '' Marsalis , 47 , co-founded Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York . As part of its goal to inspire and cultivate jazz audiences , Jazz at Lincoln Center sponsors youth events including an annual nationwide high school jazz band competition and festival , a Band Director 's Academy and a popular concert series for kids . `` Jazz helps younger kids , especially , to connect with their innermost feelings and learn that [ there 's ] nothing wrong with being real , '' Marsalis said . To Marsalis , jazz performer and instructor Davey Yarborough does just that . Yarborough provides Washington youth the opportunity and guidance to nurture their musical talents , not only as an educator at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts but also at his nonprofit jazz arts institute . Marsalis met Yarborough in the 1980s during one of his performance trips to the nation 's capital and was struck by Yarborough 's dedication to the students . `` I will see him at events , concerts . ... He always has kids with him , '' Marsalis said . `` He teaches all of his kids with the same intensity and feeling , and gives them that same feeling of specialness . It 's something that ca n't be contrived . '' Watch Marsalis describe how Yarborough inspires young people » . Yarborough , 55 , says his motivation and inspiration stems , in part , from tragedy . After the 1988 death of one of his Duke Ellington students , Anthony Nash , in a drug trafficking incident , Yarborough decided to create a program geared toward music enrichment and mentorship during off-school hours . `` To have an element of the street take a student that was so bright and so promising was a trigger for me , '' Yarborough recalled . `` I knew all the students [ as ] family , and I want to know what 's going on as much as I can with the students I am working with . '' Yarborough established a free summer-school music program at Duke Ellington to provide his students with a `` safe space '' where they could develop their skills . But when some school music programs in his district were cut , Yarborough noticed that many other students who had a desire to learn an instrument no longer had an opportunity to play or nurture their talent . `` The realization that I could only cater to the students at Ellington spurred the idea of 'OK , we need to take this into the community , ' `` Yarborough said . After obtaining donated space in his local D.C. church , Yarborough and his wife , jazz vocalist Esther Williams , created the nonprofit Washington Jazz Arts Institute . Designed to serve those students who were `` left out '' by the school system or `` left behind '' by competitive Duke Ellington auditions , Yarborough says , the institute provides young local musicians with free jazz instruction , lectures , professional workshops and paid performance opportunities . They also have a mentoring system of professional artists . `` I wanted to really be able to see the students develop , '' Yarborough said . `` Once a young person decides they want to be a musician , such as I did in the third grade , they have a support system that takes them all the way through their career . '' Since its inception in 1998 , more than 1,000 students have taken free music enrichment classes at the Washington Jazz Arts Institute . `` He loves those students , '' Marsalis said . `` There 's no question that his kids have a much greater appreciation of jazz , but larger than [ that ] , they have an appreciation of other people and of humanity and what we can all do if we invest in each other . They learn [ that ] from being in his presence . ''
Wynton Marsalis co-founded Jazz at Lincoln Center to cultivate , inspire audiences . He was a jazz musician and composer who also played the piano for many years before becoming an educator in New York City Public Schools ( he taught music theory ). It provides free lessons , lectures and paid performance opportunities . Marsalis : The nonprofit gives kids an appreciation of other people and humanity .