Monterey Jazz Festival 2013 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Kicks Off Tour in NYC

Monterey Jazz Festival's 2013 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, the Festival's internationally-renowned high school all-star big band, featuring the best high school jazz musicians in the country, launches its tour today, July 3rd, 2013. Major funding for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra comes from the Surdna Foundation and generous individuals.

20 high school musicians from 10 states comprise the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, including six studentsfrom California, five from New Jersey, two from Texas; and one each from Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, New York, and Oregon. To read the biographies of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra members, please click here.

California musicians include students from Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, and Sacramento Counties.

Six members of the Orchestra are returning, and include flutist Elena Pinderhughes (Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA); saxophonist Julian Lee (Montclair High School, Montclair, NJ); trombonists Coleman Hughes(Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ) and Blake Manternach (West High School, Iowa City, Iowa); drummer Cameron MacIntosh (Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ); and bassist Daryl Johns (Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ) who is the band's only three-year member.

"I am absolutely thrilled to be working with this year's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra," said Paul Contos, Education Director for Monterey Jazz Festival. "Composed of the very top high school jazz musicians in the U.S., we are welcoming back some brilliant players, as well as featuring a host of exciting new members. The band will navigate through the northeastern U.S. and Canada during our summer tour, highlighted by showcase performances at the Hudson River Museum, Montreal Jazz Festival, Berklee College of Music, and the Jazz Standard. These young artists are the new voices of the jazz language, and I am especially delighted to present them to audiences everywhere!"

Created in 1971 as a part of Monterey Jazz Festival's continuing commitment to jazz education, members of the Orchestra are selected through an application and audition process during the Festival's Next Generation Jazz Festival each spring. Former members of the Orchestra include professional musicians such as pianists Benny Green and Patrice Rushen, bassist Larry Grenadier, drummer Chad Wackerman, saxophonists Joshua Redman, Donny McCaslin, Mark Turner, Eric Marienthal, and Dave Koz; trombonist Andy Martin, trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos, Ambrose Akinmusire, and big band leader Gordon Goodwin to name a few. In the past, the band has been under the leadership of Ladd McIntosh, Don Schamber, Benny Golson, Bill Berry, and many more. Now under the tutelage of Monterey Jazz Festival's Education Director, Paul Contos, the renowned saxophonist and flutist who serves as the director of the Orchestra, the ensemble is dedicated to the study and performance of the most challenging big band literature available.

The 2013 Orchestra will gather in New York City today, July 3 to prepare for the nine-day tour. They will perform at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York (July 5); the Montreal Jazz Festival (July 6); the Berklee Performance Center in Boston (July 8); and the Jazz Standard in New York City (July 10). The Next Generation Jazz Orchestra will make their traditional Sunday appearance at the 56th Monterey Jazz Festival on September 22, with 2013 Artist-In-Residence, Joe Lovano.

Monterey Jazz Festival has also announced Nathaniel Schwartz of Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, Calif. as the winner of the Next Generation Jazz Festival's Composition Competition. Schwartz's composition, "Ninjas Can't Catch You If You're On Fire" will be performed by the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 22. Mr. Schwartz will also receive the Gerald Wilson Award, and a cash prize.

Tickets for the 56th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival September 20-22 in Monterey, Calif. are available by phone at 888.248.6499 and online at montereyjazzfestival.org.

Monterey Jazz Festival is dedicated to perpetuating the uniquely American form of music known as jazz by producing performances that celebrate the legacy and expand the boundaries of jazz; and by presenting year-round local, regional, national, and international jazz education programs. Monterey Jazz Festival is a nonprofit organization and has donated its proceeds to musical education since its inception in 1958.

2013 NEXT GENERATION JAZZ ORCHESTRA MEMBERS

Director - Mr. Paul Contos

WOODWINDS

Sam Hart, alto / Clarkstown High School South, West Nyack, NY

Howard Dietz, alto / Valley Christian High School, San Jose, CA

Julian Lee, tenor** / Montclair High School, Montclair, NJ

Jyron Walls, tenor / High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX

Henry Solomon, baritone / Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI

Elena Pinderhughes, flute** / Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA

TROMBONES

Coleman Hughes** / Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ

Sam Chess / Tucson Jazz Institute, Tucson, AZ

Blake Manternach** / West High School, Iowa City, Iowa

Peter Wikle (bass) / Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, CA

TRUMPETS

Michael Raehpour / Andover High School, Andover, KS

Andrew Stephens / Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA

Noah Conrad / Cleveland High School, Portland, OR

Fernando Ferrarone / Felix Verela Senior High School, Miami, FL

Liam Werner / Montclair High School, Montclair, NJ

RHYTHM

James Francies, piano / High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX

Daryl Johns, bass***/ Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ

Peter Gabrielides, guitar / New Trier High School, Winnetka, IL

Cameron MacIntosh, drums** / Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ
Brianna Rancour-Ibarra, vocals / Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA

** 2-time member of NGJO
*** 3-time member of NGJO

2013 NEXT GENRATION JAZZ ORCHESTRA TOUR:
July 3: Arrival in New York City
July 5: Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY / 7:00PM
July 6: Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada / Scène Rio Tinto Alcan Stage / 3:00PM
July 8: Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA / 8:15PM
July 10: The Jazz Standard, New York, NY / 7:30PM & 9:30PM
July 11: Depart from New York City

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