Monday, July 05, 2010

Jazz St. Louis announces new education faculty and programs, 2010 All-Stars

Jazz St. Louis director of education Phil Dunlap recently made a couple of blog posts with some announcements about JSL's education programs for the 2010-11 season. Here's what's news:

* Nearly 80 students from Missouri and Illinois auditioned during June to be part of the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and JazzU programs; that's an increase of more than 60% compared to last year.

As a result of those auditions, the students selected for the 2010-11 All-Stars ensemble are bassist Sam Fruend and drummer Joe Winstein-Hibbs, both of Webster Groves High School; pianist Eliot Courtois (Lindbergh High School); alto saxophonist Matthew Baldwin (Westminster Christian Academy); tenor saxophonist Michael Ferrante (Ft. Zumwalt West High School) and guitarist Joseph Clayton Floyd and trombonist William Wolff, who both attend Belleville East High School.

The All-Stars will be led next year by saxophonist Jason Swagler (pictured), a new addition to the Jazz St. Louis faculty. Faculty for the JazzU program will include Anthony Wiggins (trumpet), Cody Henry (trombone), Aaron Lehde (saxophone), Andy Ament (saxophone) and Dunlap (piano).

* JSL also has added two new permanent artists-in-residence to its faculty. Pianist Reggie Thomas will be artist-in-residence with the All-Stars, while pianist Peter Martin will fill the same role for the top group in the JazzU program. These ongoing residencies augment JSL's existing residency program, which brings in visiting jazz artists and educators for a week at a time to work with the JazzU and All-Star participants.

* In addition to next year's previously announced educational residencies by Gene Aitken, saxophonist Ronald Carter, and pianist Cyrus Chestnut with special guest, trumpeter Jon Faddis, in November Jazz St. Louis will present a series of youth concerts at the Touhill Performing Arts Center featuring JazzReach with Metta Quintet. The programs will include "Stolen Moments: The First One Hundred Years of Jazz" for grades 6-12, "Big Drum/Small World for KIDS!" for grades 3-5 and "Hangin’ with the Giants" for grades K-4. Each performance will feature narration and an interactive media presentation along with live music from Metta Quintet.

* The newest addition to Jazz St. Louis’ education programs is "Jazz from the Inside," which will use video conferencing and fiber optic technology to "bring together students from St. Louis and all around the country."

All of these programs are offered free of charge to the participating students and schools. For more information on Jazz St. Louis' education programs, visit the JSL website or call Phil Dunlap at 314-289-4033.

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