Festival
38th Annual New Trier HS Jazz Festival - Virtual Edition
Beginning on Feb 6, through the end of the month
Directors - register here!
This year's virtual festival presents directors the opportunity to present the following resources to their students throughout the month of February. We're excited to share these performances, masterclasses, and clinics to you, and we hope they serve to inspire. Registered directors will receive access to a page of video links on Feb 6.
Keynote address by Tia Fuller! International performing artist and Berklee College of Music faculty member Tia Fuller will share a message with our jazz festival community. Ms. Fuller has been GRAMMY nominated and can be heard as the saxophonist in the hit Disney Pixar movie Soul!
PERFORMANCES
Mike Reed's People, Places, & Things
Mike Reed is a drummer, band leader, venue owner, and civic arts leader in Chicago. He's the founder of the Pitchfork Music Festival, has chaired programming for the Chicago Jazz Festival, and in 2010 was named by the Chicago Tribune as a Chicagoan of the Year.
Mr. Reed and his ensemble recorded their NT Jazz Fest set from his venue Constellation, one of many vital, independent music venues in Chicago.
Isaiah Spencer Quartet
Isaiah Spencer has been a staple of the Chicago music scene for more than 20 years. He's a product of Chicago's vibrant arts mentoring programs, both formal and in the "old school" tradition. A student of many of Chicago's most renowned jazz musicians, Mr. Spencer now plays the role of teacher and mentor to a new generation.
Mr. Spencer and his ensemble recorded their NT Jazz Fest set from New Trier's McGee Theatre.
MASTERCLASSES and CLINICS
Composition clinic with Dave Douglas
Trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and entrepreneur - Dave Douglas has created a singular voice in all of these roles. Consistently heralded as one of the most impactful musicians of his generation, Douglas has released more than 50 records under his name and has published over 500 compositions.
Jon Irabagon - saxophone masterclass presenter
Victor Garcia - trumpet masterclass presenter
Tim Coffman - trombone masterclass presenter
Rhythm section masterclass presented by
Rick Haydon - guitar
Reggie Thomas - piano
Marlene Rosenberg - bass
George Fludas - drums
Ron Carter - special topic clinic for directors and students - "A Cultural Approach to Jazz Education"
Jazz education icon Ron Carter will discuss his recent article "A Cultural Approach to Jazz Education", a timely and important topic for directors, students, and all supporters of arts education.
John Yao - special topic clinic on arranging for jazz combo
Mr. Yao will start at the beginning, walking students through the first steps of creating an arrangement of a jazz standard for a three-horn plus rhythm section group.
Alexa Tarantino - special topic clinic on jazz articulation
As a rising star in the New York jazz scene, and as a member and frequent sub with many of the most renowned jazz ensembles in the world (DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, to name a few) Alexa Tarantino understands how professional ensembles create their sound. Ms. Tarantino is also a passionate educator, and she loves helping individual musicians and ensembles to clarify their playing through purposeful articulation!
Maddie Vogler - special topic clinic on music production
Ms. Vogler will introduce music production topics connected to practicing, composing, recording, mixing, and producing.
Dan Nicholson - special topic clinic - Bebop Vocabulary 101
Mr. Nicholson will lead students through his tried-and-true approach to understanding bebop harmony and applying bebop vocabulary.
Joan Hickey - special topic clinic on jazz piano basics for non-pianists
Ms. Hickey, who teaches jazz piano at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a masterful performer and renowned educator. In this clinic she will take non-pianists through a nuts-and-bolts process for learning how to build and voice chords in the jazz idiom. All serious jazz musicians have a working knowledge of jazz piano, and all jazz students should begin exploring this component of their musicianship as soon as possible!