Monterey Jazz Festival announces 2022-23 musical groups and musicians
Regional All-Star Band, vocal ensemble and Middle School combo members
Monterey Jazz Festival is excited to announce the return of MJF’s Regional All-Star Band and Vocal Ensemble, as well as the Regional All-Star Middle School Combo. Directed by Stu Reynolds (Regional All-Star Band); renowned educator Dr. Rob Klevan (Regional All-Star Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Regional All-Star Middle School Combo); and Mrs. Janice Perl (Regional All-Star Vocal Ensemble), each all-star ensemble represents a cross-section of Monterey County private and public schools on the Monterey Peninsula. In the 2022-2023 year, 48 All-Star members include students from 14 county middle and high schools, including Carmel, Monterey, Notre Dame, Pacific Grove, Ocean Grove Charter, Palma, Salinas, San Benancio, Santa Catalina, Stevenson, York, and others. Ensembles will rehearse twice a month at York School.
Monterey Regional AllStar Ensembles have previously toured across the region, the West Coast, and the United States, including performances at the Kennedy Center and Bohemian Caverns in Washington DC; the Vancouver and Victoria International jazz festivals in British Columbia; Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle; the Jazz in the Woods Festival in Overland Park, Kansas; the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri; the Jazz Bistro in St. Louis; and many other festivals and events.
The All-Star Ensembles will perform a series of concerts leading up to the 66th Monterey Jazz Festival, September
22-24, 2023. Scheduled events include appearances at the Corral de Tierra Rotary Club in Salinas in May, MJF’s Summer Jazz Camp in Pebble Beach on June, Jazz on the Plazz in Los Gatos in July, and the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, Salinas Valley Wine and Food Festival and Rancho Cielo in August.
New for the 2023 Regional All-Star program is a Certificate of Excellence in Professional Musicianship, awarded to participants in the All-Star Band or Vocal Ensemble students who satisfy a set of established education requirements and can be used in college applications to accompany a letter of recommendation from MJF’s education department. 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.
“The certificate program will motivate the students to become better musicians through experience and observation,” said Claire Kim-Shin, Education Specialist for the Monterey Jazz Festival. “Participants will not only rehearse and perform but also attend jazz concerts and events to listen to other professional and student artists to learn from them.”