Monterey, Calif., October 13, 2022; Continuing its return to in-person learning, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced online auditions are now available for the MJF Regional All-Star Band, Regional All-Star Vocal Ensemble, and Regional All-Star Middle School Combo. Applications are open now and are available through Friday, October 28. All Monterey County high school and middle 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 through October 28 and members will be announced on November 4. Rehearsals begin Thursday, November 17. The program is free to participants, and there is an application fee of $27 per audition submission. To learn more, please contact Claire Kim-Shin at claire@montereyjazzfestival.org.
In 2022-23, MJF is partnering with the York School, where the ensembles will rehearse twice a month on Thursdays. The Regional All-Star Band will be led by Stu Reynolds, the Jazz Band Director at York. A multi-instrumentalist woodwind specialist, Mr. Reynolds has appeared at the Monterey, San Jose, and Big Sur jazz festivals, and has appeared on recordings with Maria Muldaur, Santa Cruz Steel, Mario Flores Latin Jazz, Along Came Betty, Aporia, Latin Jazz Collective, and others.
Dr. Rob Klevan and Ms. Janice Perl will co-direct the Regional All-Star 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.
The MJF Regional All-Star Band and Regional Middle School All-Star Combo, founded in 1989 and 2003, and the Regional All-Star 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; the Jazz Bistro in St. Louis; and the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto, Japan. Distinguished alumni of MJF’s Regional All-Star Bands include pianists Milton Fletcher and Patrick Hogan, trumpeters Tanya Darby and Akili Bradley, bassist Kanoa Mendenhall, and drummer James Williams.
Monterey Jazz Festival serves approximately 3,400 middle school, high school, and college students annually. Other MJF regional jazz education programs during the academic year include Jazz in the Schools, bringing in teaching artists to local music programs, and Playbook, created by Next Generation Jazz Orchestra alumnus Sammy Miller, addresses the issue that schools often struggle to offer equal learning opportunities to students with different skill levels. MJF provides local schools with opportunities to sign up and take advantage of this program.
For more information, please visit montereyjazzfestival.org or contact MJF Education Specialist Claire Kim-Shin at claire@montereyjazzfestival.org or 831.373.8842.
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The mission of Monterey Jazz Festival is to inspire the discovery and celebration of jazz, anchored by an iconic festival. Founded in 1958, 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.
For interview opportunities and other MJF information, please contact:
Timothy Orr, Marketing Associate
Direct Line: 831.646.8670 / MJF Phone: 831.373.3366
timorr@montereyjazzfestival.org
www.montereyjazzfestival.org