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Jazzschool Studio Bands

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Now in their sixth season, the award-winning Jazzschool Studio Bands are two of the Bay Area’s premiere high school big bands. The groups feature some of the finest up-and- coming young jazz musicians from around the San Francisco Bay Area and are dedicated to the study and performance of standard and contemporary jazz literature for large ensemble.

Since the first band’s creation in 2006 by director Keith Johnson, the Jazzschool Studio Bands have established themselves as two of the Bay Area’s finest ensembles of their kind. The bands have received several awards, high praises and critical acclaim for their exciting programming, detailed interpretation and energetic performances. Studio Band alumni are now attending some of the nation’s top universities and music schools such as Manhattan School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, the New School, USC, Northwestern University and UCLA among others.

In addition to performances throughout the Bay Area at esteemed jazz clubs such as Yoshi’s Oakland and San Francisco, Savanna Jazz in San Francisco and the Jazzschool in Berkeley, the Jazzschool Studio Bands have traveled and performed in venues throughout the United States and abroad. The bands have performed in New York, Seattle, Idaho, Italy, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, and Canada. They have performed at many of the world’s top jazz festivals including at the Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz á Vienne, Umbria Jazz Festival, and Victoria Jazz Festival as well as venues and music festivals across North America and Europe.

Recently, the Jazzschool Monday Night Studio Band has been the recipient of two DownBeat Magazine national awards; in 2010 for “Outstanding Performance” and in 2011, winning “Outstanding Large Jazz Ensemble” in the High School Arts category. The Monday Night Studio Band has also taken 1st place at the Next Generation Festival (presented by the Monterey Jazz Festival) the past three years in a row (2009, 2010, 2011) and also placed 2nd in 2008.