New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Monterey Jazz Festival is proud to announce the 2018 members of its 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.
Twenty-one of the nation's most talented high school musicians from eight states comprise the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Washington State.
The 2018 orchestra will travel to Monterey and the San Francisco Bay Area for rehearsals and to perform at the Coventry Grove Amphitheatre in
Berkeley on Saturday, July 21. The Orchestra will travel to Japan on July 22 for a tour which will include performances at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto (July 28); and the Tokyo TUC jazz club (August 1), as well as cultural exchanges, workshops and performances with local schools and bands.
In September, the orchestra will return to Monterey to perform the annual free "Concert on the Lawn" for Monterey County students on the Monterey County Fairgrounds (Sept. 20) with an evening performance at MJF's Jazz
Legends Gala. The Orchestra will perform throughout the Festival including a special performance with MJF61 Artists-in-Residence Tia Fuller and Ingrid Jensen on Sunday,
September 23.
Created in 1971 as a part of Monterey Jazz Festival's continuing commitment to jazz education, former members of the orchestra include professional musicians pianists Benny Green and
Patrice Rushen; saxophonists Joshua Redman, Donny McCaslin, and Ted Nash; flutist Elena Ayodele Pinderhughes; trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos and Ambrose Akinmusire; and big band leader
Gordon Goodwin to name a few. Read full history of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.
About Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates the legacy of jazz, expands its boundaries, and provides opportunities to experience jazz through the creative production of performances and educational programs.
