As New Orleans and the Gulf Coast remember Hurricane Katrina twenty years later, part of the focus has been on the positivity and support that eventually followed the devastating storm. And for a city so culturally important to American music, the post-Katrina work of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews’s Trombone Shorty Foundation has become a bastion of keeping future generations involved in, and inspired by, traditional New Orleans music.
This past week, ABC News and Hulu premiered Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years After The Storm with Robin Roberts, which touched on both the Trombone Shorty Foundation and the Trombone Shorty Academy, featuring an interview with Andrews and Trombone Shorty Academy alumni and current instructor Jasmine Batiste. NBC News aired a piece titled “Surviving the Storm: Trombone Shorty making sure the music is alive 20 years after Katrina,” again telling the story of Andrews and the formation of the Shorty Foundation and Academy. In a related piece, Garden & Gun Magazine’s August/September 2025 issue found Andrews gracing its cover with a dive into what the Shorty Foundation means to both him and the greater New Orleans music community within its cover story.
Looking forward to what’s next for the Trombone Shorty Foundation, the Academy Alumni Band is traveling to Mill Valley, California, next week for a free, all-ages performance at the legendary Sweetwater Music Hall on Saturday, September 13th. More information can be found at this link.
For more information on the Trombone Shorty Foundation, please visit tromboneshortyfoundation.org.
About Trombone Shorty Foundation: The Trombone Shorty Foundation began with a simple goal: Preserving New Orleans’s vibrant musical spirit through the next generation, inspiring and educating a new cohort of players on the unique sound of their soulful city. As the Shorty Foundation’s programs expanded, it became clear that raw talent on an instrument deserved to be bolstered by mentorship and real-world music industry experience. With that, programs like the Trombone Shorty Academy, the Music Industry Apprenticeship Program, the Fredman Music Business Institute, and the Shorty Foundation’s Cultural Experiences program were developed to ensure these young musicians and aspiring music business professionals have the tools to navigate a music career, should they choose to pursue one, through mentorship, scholarships, instruction, work-based learning, and real-world touring experiences.
Throughout its broad array of programming, students supported by the Trombone Shorty Foundation will garner the skills to enter the world of professional music, wearing their New Orleans upbringing like a badge of honor on any stage or in any studio around the world.
###
