Monterey, Calif., October 26, 2021; Making a return to in-school learning, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced the return of its Monterey County High School All-Star Band and Vocal Ensemble. Applications open November 1 and are available on the Monterey Jazz Festival website to ensure that all students can participate. All Monterey County high school woodwind players, trombonists, trumpeters, rhythm section players, and vocalists are encouraged to apply.
Online audition materials are available now on the Monterey Jazz Festival website. Submissions will be accepted from November 1-15, and selected members will be announced on November 23. In-person rehearsals begin January 21, 2022 and will take place every other Wednesday from 5-6:30pm at Monterey Peninsula College. The program is free to participants, and there is an application fee of $27 per audition submission. Limited scholarship money is available and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more about the scholarship opportunity, please contact Bobbie Young at bobbie@montereyjazzfestival.org.
In 2021-2022, MJF is partnering with the Monterey Peninsula College Music Department to facilitate the ensembles. The Monterey County High School All-Star Band will be led by Dr. Alan Durst, the Music Department Chair in the Creative Arts division at MPC. Dr. Durst is also the former Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, Fresno.
Dr. Rob Klevan and Ms. Janice Perl will co-direct the County Vocal Ensemble. Dr. Klevan is the Jazz Education Director Emeritus for the Monterey Jazz Festival, and Janice Perl has been the vocal director for various peninsula choirs and theatre companies including the Pacific Repertory Theatre, Forest Theatre Guild and Compass Church, and is also a private vocal coach at the Dennis Murphy School of Music.
Monterey Jazz Festival will work closely with local and state authorities and will follow all required COVID-19 health and safety guidelines to offer a safe experience during rehearsals. The health and safety protocols will be provided to students and families prior to the program.
The Monterey County High School All-Star Band, founded in 1989, and the Honor Vocal Ensemble, founded in 2007, selects top music students from across Monterey County, representing a cross section of private and public schools on the Peninsula. Over the years, the ensembles have performed at venues across the United States and abroad, including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC; the Vancouver and Victoria International jazz festivals in British Columbia; Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle; the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri; the Jazz Bistro in St. Louis; and the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto, Japan. Distinguished alumni of MJF’s County All-Star Bands include pianists Milton Fletcher and Patrick Hogan, trumpeters Tanya Darby and Akili Bradley, and bassist Kanoa Mendenhall.
For more information, please visit montereyjazzfestival.org or contact Bobbie Young at bobbie@montereyjazzfestival.org.
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For interview opportunities and other MJF information, please contact:
Elizabeth Welden-Smith, Deputy Director
MJF Phone: 831.233.3711
elizabeth@montereyjazzfestival.org
www.montereyjazzfestival.org