NEC Jazz Orchestra and the Ken Schaphorst Big Band to Appear In Concert at The Regattabar

The 17-member NEC Jazz Orchestra makes an off-campus appearance on Wednesday, November 6 at the Charles Hotel's Regattabar (1 Bennett St., Cambridge). The orchestra is the opening act for the Ken Schaphorst Big Band, the 17-piece ensemble of acclaimed composer, performer and Jazz Studies Co-Chair Schaphorst. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20-$30. For information visit regattabarjazz.com. 

The NEC Jazz Orchestra performance celebrates the 150th birthday of revered composer Charles Ives by performing Schaphorst's new arrangements of some of Ives's most celebrated compositions. Ives was actively composing at the same time that jazz was first recognized as a uniquely American music, and his compositions share many of the same influences, including marches, ragtime and American popular songs. NEC's celebration of Ives began in early 2024 and will carry through its November Festival, honoring his lasting impact on American music.

The Ken Schaphorst Big Band will be reflecting on the state of the union with performances of Schaphorst's "Take Back the Country" and "Omega Man" among others. Schaphorst's band includes a who's who of top jazz players, many of whom studied or on the faculty of NEC. They include saxophones: Mark Zaleski (alum, faculty), Sam Spear (alum), Noah Preminger (alum), Ian Buss (alum), Melanie Howell (alum); trumpets: Bijon Watson, Mike Peipman, Mark Tipton (current student), Jason Palmer (alum, faculty); trombones: Chris Gagne (alum), Clayton DeWalt (alum), Bob Pilkington, Angel Subero (alum); guitar: Amanda Monaco (faculty); piano: Lefteris Kordis (alum); bass: Ehud Ettun (alum); and drums: Austin McMahon (faculty).

Created in 1989, the Ken Schaphorst Big Band has been extending the boundaries of large ensemble jazz for over three decades. Formed in Boston, the group features many of today's most notable young performers, including Ralph Alessi, Chris Cheek, Uri Caine, John Medeski, Donny McCaslin and Matt Wilson. Schaphorst's compositions and arrangements draw on the traditions of big band jazz while at the same time opening up new possibilities through the incorporation of a wide range of musical influences.

Ken Schaphorst is an internationally acclaimed composer, performer and educator who has been a leading light on the Boston jazz scene for more than 20 years. As Co-Chair of the Jazz Studies Department at NEC, he teaches courses in jazz composition, arranging, theory and analysis as well as directing the NEC Jazz Orchestra. Before moving to Boston in 2001, he served for ten years as Director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Schaphorst is also a founding member of the Jazz Composers Alliance, a Boston-based non-profit corporation promoting new music in the jazz idiom since 1985. 

Schaphorst studied at Swarthmore College, NEC, and Boston University, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts in 1990. His composition teachers have included Thomas Oboe Lee, Gerald Levinson, William Thomas McKinley and Bernard Rands. Schaphorst was awarded Composition Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1988 and 1991, the Wisconsin Arts Board in 1997, Meet the Composer Grants in 1987 and 1997, and was a Music Composition Finalist in the Massachusetts Fellowship Program in 1986. He won the Achievement Award for Jazz Education from DownBeat magazine in 2007. Schaphorst has released seven recordings as a leader: Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Making Lunch (1989), Ken Schaphorst Big Band: After Blue (1991), Ken Schaphorst Ensemble: When the Moon Jumps (1994), Ken Schaphorst: Over the Rainbow (1997), Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple (1999), Ken Schaphorst: Indigenous Technology (2002) and Ken Schaphorst Big Band: How to Say Goodbye (2015).

About New England Conservatory (NEC)

Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867, New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston's rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity, and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians' impact on advancing our shared humanity and empowers students to meet today's changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance.

As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz and contemporary improvisation. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, it empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Expanded Education division delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.

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