Wednesday, December 11 in NEC’s Brown Hall
New England Conservatory Prep presents the NEC Youth Jazz Orchestra conducted by Ken Schaphorst in a concert featuring the music of Duke Ellington, Gerald Wilson, Sun Ra, Imogen Heap, John Klenner, Joe Henderson,
Harold Arlen, and Thad Jones all performed by middle and high school students in the NEC Youth Jazz Orchestra. The free concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11 at NEC’s Brown Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. For more information, log on to http://necmusic.edu/nec-youth-jazz-orchestra-schaphorst or call 617-585-1260.
Founded in 2008 by NEC Jazz Studies Department chair Ken Schaphorst, the YJO is the only community jazz orchestra of its kind in the Boston area, open by audition to all musicians high school age or younger. The ensemble strives to give young musicians opportunities to learn and perform together in an environment of high expectations and standards.
The NEC Youth Jazz Orchestra includes Eamon Sheil on alto and soprano saxophones, Kira Daglio Fine on alto saxophone, Josh Noel and Ryan MacLean on tenor saxophones, Grace-Mary Burega on baritone saxophone, Hyun Shin, Samuel Atallah, Diego Opperman and Nate Williams on trumpets, William Hess, Gibson Leavitt, Michael Sabin and Harrison Miller on trombones, Noah Landis on piano, Richard Oates on guitar, Noah Harrington on bass and Noah Klavens on drums.
Ken Schaphorst performs in Jordan Hall on Thursday, December 12 to conduct the NEC Jazz Orchestra in a concert of his own compositions and arrangements.
NEC’s Jazz Studies Department was the first fully accredited jazz studies program at a music conservatory. The brainchild of Gunther Schuller, who moved quickly to incorporate jazz into the curriculum when he became President of the Conservatory in 1967, the Jazz Studies faculty has included six MacArthur “genius” grant recipients (three currently teaching) and four NEA Jazz Masters, and alumni that reads like a who’s who of jazz. Now in its 44th year, the program has spawned numerous Grammy winning composers and performers. As Mike West writes in JazzTimes: “NEC’s jazz studies department is among the most acclaimed and successful in the world; so says the roster of visionary artists that have comprised both its faculty and alumni.” The program currently has 114 students; 67 undergraduate and 47 graduate students from 12 countries.
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