The Monterey Jazz Festival have revealed the members of the
2012 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, the high school all-star big band, featuring the best high school jazz musicians in the country.Major funding for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra comes from the Surdna Foundation and generous individuals.
21 high school musicians from nine states comprise the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra including 10 students from California, three from New Jersey, two from Washington State; and one each from Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
California musicians include students from Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Riverside, and Sacramento counties.
Returning members of the 2012 Orchestra include saxophonists Jasper Dutz (Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, Los Angeles, CA) and Connor Anderson (FAME Charter School, Newark, CA); bassist Daryl Johns (Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ); trombonist Joonas Lemetyinen (West Linn High School, West Linn, OR); trumpeter Adam O'Farrill (LaGuardia High School for the Arts, New York, NY); and bass trombonist Chris Palowitch (Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA) who is the band's only three-year member.
"The 2012 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra is once again the finest assembly of top-notch high school jazz performers in the United States," says Paul Contos, Education Director of the Monterey Jazz Festival. "The orchestra's international tour will include a performance at Yoshi's in San Francisco, as well as a return to Japan for the first time since 2003, where the Monterey Jazz Festival has had a long-standing relationship for many years. Japanese audiences at festivals and venues in Nanao, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Tomisato have anticipated the band's return for quite some time. The tour performances, along with the rich cultural exchange programs make it a life-changing experience for our students."
