Over 350 Top Youth Jazz Musicians to Perform at Free Reno Jazz Orchestra Event

The Reno Jazz Orchestra (RJO) hosts the 23rd annual Jazz in the Schools program on Saturday, February 11, 2023. Over 350 middle and high school musicians and 22 jazz ensembles from local schools will participate this year.

Jazz in the Schools is free to the public from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm and is held at Nightingale Concert Hall at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) campus. At noon, the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra and Reno Jazz Orchestra will present a one-hour performance directed by Julian Tanaka. For a complete schedule, visit RenoJazzOrchestra.org.

“This event is part of the Reno Jazz Orchestra’s educational outreach efforts. The all-day event helps to prepare jazz ensembles to compete in upcoming festivals such as the Reno Jazz Festival, and also introduces them to the University of Nevada, Reno, jazz faculty,” said Nichole Heglund, Education Director for the Reno Jazz Orchestra. “The bands will perform in a non-competitive environment throughout the day and receive a clinic from nationally recognized jazz clinicians. The students also get to hear groups from other schools.”

Department of Music Associate Professor, Andrew Heglund, is the director of Jazz in the Schools. Under Heglund’s guidance, Jazz in the Schools has grown yearly to the point that the event is held in two performance halls.

“All of the educational components are offered free of charge to the schools and students due to grant funding and the generosity of donors,” said Chuck Reider, Reno Jazz Orchestra Board President. “It is Nichole and Andy’s passion and commitment to jazz education that has driven Jazz in the Schools to reach new students, expand the program, and bring great clinicians to Reno for the event.” This year’s adjudicators are Julian Tanaka, Molly Redfield, Josh Murray, Gary Mayne and UNR Jazz Professors.

Julian Tanaka graduated from the Las Vegas Academy of Performing and Visual Arts and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He completed his B.M. in Jazz Arranging in 2013. At UNLV, Tanaka studied clarinet with Marina Sturm and jazz arranging with Joe Lano.

In 2016, under the tutelage of Bill Dobbins, he received his M.M. in Jazz Writing from the Eastman School of Music. While there, he studied saxophone with Charles Pillow.

Tanaka's work as a woodwind specialist has included the 2012-13 international tour of the Broadway hit musical, Come Fly Away; a 2013-14 residency with Grammy award-winning R&B group, Boyz II Men, at the Mirage Hotel and Casino; and, most recently, a full-time position with BAZ at The Palazzo. As a composer, Tanaka has completed commissions for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Wind Orchestra, Hamilton High School Jazz Ensemble A (Los Angeles) and Penfield High School Studio Orchestra (Western New York). He currently teaches Jazz at UNLV and at the Nevada School of the Arts.

Dr. Molly Redfield is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University. She is an established bassist, arranger, and jazz educator and is excited to share her passion for teaching jazz education. As a bassist, Dr. Redfield was chosen for the 2022 Jazz Education Network, Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo, awarded the 2017 Outstanding Festival Soloist Award at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival and awarded the 2016 Outstanding Collegiate Rhythm Section Performer at the Reno International Jazz Festival.

Dr. Redfield earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree in String Bass Performance and her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to attending UNLV, she attended Sacramento State where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned her Bachelor of Music Education, with an emphasis in Classical Bass Performance, and a Bachelor of Music, Jazz Bass Performance.

Saxophonist Josh Murray has been Band Director at Sacramento’s Rio Americano High School since 1998. Rio’s AM Jazz Ensemble has been a finalist at the Essentially Ellington Festival eleven times, was chosen as winner of the 2019 national "Perform With Bob Mintzer" competition, recently hosted and opened a concert with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and has performed worldwide.

Rio’s musicians and bands have won dozens of DownBeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards and are three-time winners of the Charles Mingus Festival’s combo category.
Murray has performed with Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Peter Erskine, Bobby Shew, Donny McCaslin, Wycliffe Gordon, Ken Peplowski, and the Drifters. Murray is a member of the Sacramento Jazz Orchestra and the Ron Cunha Big Band. He is a contributing author to Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Vol. 2.

About the Reno Jazz Orchestra (RJO)

The Reno Jazz Orchestra (RJO) has been based in Northern Nevada for over 20 years and was formed by musicians who performed and traveled the world with acts such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Elvis Presley, Natalie Cole, Luciano Pavarotti and other legendary performers. The tradition of jazz excellence set by the founders continues today with jazz professors, educators and graduates from the University of Nevada, Reno, jazz studies program setting new performance standards.

About the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO).

The Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO) is one educational branch of the Reno Jazz Orchestra. RYJO is known as the next generation of jazz musicians based in Northern Nevada and Northern California. Each musician auditions to be a member of RYJO through a comprehensive and very competitive process. RYJO provides opportunities for students to perform, preserve, appreciate and study the world of Jazz through imaginative thinking and creativity. Year after year, RYJO is the leader in music education performing diverse jazz concerts throughout the region.
The EL Cord Foundation, Nevada Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, Thunder Rand & Co., Tanglewood Productions, City of Reno, Absolute Music, This is Reno, GPS Wealth Advisors and the RJO Circle of Friends, Band Partners and Band Fans support the Reno Jazz Orchestra.