Trumpeter Benny Benack, 18, is a high honors graduate of Upper St. Clair High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Born into a musical family, Ben began taking piano lessons at the age of six, and trumpet lessons at age eight. He has received full scholarships to the Carnegie-Mellon and Duquesne University Pre-College Summer Jazz Camps in Pittsburgh, the 2008 Vail Jazz Workshop in Colorado, the Skidmore Jazz Institute in Saratoga Springs, New York, and has won several Best Soloist awards at Pennsylvania’s Slippery Rock University Jazz Festival. He has also been a member of the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensemble in 2008 and 2009, and is a 2008 participant in the Pennsylvania Governor’s School. This year, Ben won a Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Silver Award, participated in Music For All’s Jazz Band of America, was a Pennsylvania All-State Jazz Band member, and was selected to the 2009 Telluride Jazz All-Stars. In the fall, Ben will attend the Manhattan School of Music in New York City on a full-tuition scholarship. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Pianist Gregory Chen, 18, is a graduate of Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California. Gregory has performed with the San Jose Youth Orchestra, Berkeley Jazzschool High School Advanced Jazz Workshop, California All-State Jazz Band, Reno Jazz Festival High School All-Stars, and Music For All’s Jazz Band of America. Gregory’s honors and awards include full scholarships to the 2005 Brubeck Institute Jazz Camp and 2008 Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony in Stockton, California; the Smith Dobson-Don Haas Award for Outstanding Jazz Pianist at the 2005 Smith Dobson Youth Jazz Festival in San Jose, California; and numerous soloist awards from the Folsom and Next Generation Jazz Festivals, among others. Gregory is also very involved with the San Jose Jazz Society and their annual summer youth jazz camp. Playing piano since he was six years old, he has had eleven years of classical training and six years of jazz study, and has been mentored by Geraldine Simons, Victoria Lington, Frank Sumares, Murray Low, Michael Zilber, and Peter Horvath. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trombonist John Egizi, 16, will be a senior at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts in Los Angeles where he plays in the Big Band and Combo A. He has studied with Jason Goldman, Walter Smith, Ira Nepus, Phil Wilson and Terri Lyne Carrington. He has won three soloist awards at the Reno Jazz Festival, two soloist awards at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival, two soloist awards at the Next Generation Jazz Festival and two awards of outstanding musicianship at LACHSA. With the 2008 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, John has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands; he has also performed as a member of the California Band Directors Association All State Middle School Symphonic Band. He has also participated in the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Bill Green Mentorship Program and the Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program. He has toured with Bobby Watson and Lisa Henry, and has also performed with Christian McBride, Maceo Parker, and Antonio Hart. This will be John’s second year in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trumpeter Nick Frenay, 18, a recent graduate of Manlius Pebble Hill School in Dewitt, New York, is now in his third year in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. A three-time member of the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensemble and twice chosen for the New York All-State Jazz Ensemble, Nick has also participated in the Music For All’s Jazz Band of America, the Vail Jazz Workshop and the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop. In 2009, Nick competed in the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Improv Finals in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Nick has also played lead trumpet in the Young Lions of Central New York, was a founding member of the youth jazz band “Mood Swings,” and worked for three years with the Syracuse Parks & Recreation All-Star Band. Nick has also recorded with Bob Mintzer, appeared as a featured soloist with Herbie Hancock at the 2009 GRAMMY Salute to Jazz, and has traded licks with acclaimed Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra trumpeter, Marcus Printup. The recipient of two DownBeat Awards in 2008 for outstanding High School Jazz Soloist and for High School Jazz Group, Nick is a 2009 Yamaha Young Performing Artist and a Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Honorable Mention recipient. Nick will be attending the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in the fall of 2009 in their Fellowship program.

Trumpeter Joshua Gawel, 17, is a junior at Daniel Boone Area High School in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, where he plays lead in the DBA Frontiersman Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. Joshua started playing at the age of nine, and in the past two years, he was chosen to participate in the Berks County Band and District Concert Band, and was selected to play lead at the Berklee College of Music Brass Weekend performance. Additionally, Joshua was chosen to play lead for the Berks County High School All-Star Jazz Band, the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the University of the Arts Jazz Ensemble in Philadelphia. In 2009, he had the honor to play lead in the 2009 Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY High School Jazz Ensemble. Influenced and guided by studies with Bobby Livingood and by listening to his contemporaries, Joshua continues to add to his resume through studies under noted musicians and educators Roger Ingram and John Swana. After completing high school, he plans to continue his career by pursuing a degree in music. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trumpeter Zachary Gillespie is a senior at Ironwood High School in Glendale, Arizona. He has performed with ensembles at Deer Valley High School, and was chosen to attend the 2008 Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony. He has additionally been a performing member in the Young Sounds of Arizona, the Arizona All-State Jazz Band, the 2008 Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensemble, and Music For All’s 2009 Jazz Band of America. He has appeared at annual conferences and events such as the International Association for Jazz Education, Chicago’s Midwest International Band & Orchestra Clinic, the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, California, and the Western International Band Conference in Seattle, Washington. He has performed with Dan Brubeck, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Chris Brubeck, Rebeca Mauleon, Wayne Bergeron, Christian Scott, Wycliffe Gordon, and McCoy Tyner. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist Nicole Glover, 17, is a graduate of Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon. As a member of the Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra and American Music Program directed by Thara Memory, Nicole has performed -- and placed first -- across the United States at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City; the Berklee High School Jazz Competition in Boston; the Next Generation Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival in California; the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho; the Savannah Music Festival’s Swing Central Competition in Georgia; the North Texas Jazz Festival; the Clark College Jazz Festival in Vancouver, Washington; and the Northwest Jazz Band Festival in Oregon. She is also a member of the top sextet at the Alan Jones Academy of Music and a member of Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Derek Sims. As a saxophone student of David Valdez, Nicole has won Outstanding Soloist Awards at the Willamette Jazz Festival and North Texas Jazz Festival, and Tigard High’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Award. Nicole has worked with Christian Scott, Mel Brown, Bernard Purdie, Renato Caranto, Paquito D’Rivera, Javon Jackson, Eric Alexander, Wycliffe Gordon, Gary Smulyan, Red Holloway, David Ornette Cherry, Terell Stafford, Jeff Clayton, Dana Hall, and Thara Memory. Starting this fall, Nicole will be studying under Rich Perry at William Paterson University in New Jersey. 2009 will be her first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Bassist Mike Gurrola, 18, is a senior at the Verdugo Academy in La Crescenta, California. Mike has studied stringed instruments for nine years, and currently studies classical bass with David Young, the principal bassist in the L.A. Opera; and jazz bass with Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton. In 2006, Mike was selected to the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-Star Jazz Band. As a participant at Berklee College of Music’s High School Jazz Festival in 2007 and 2009, he received Outstanding Musicianship awards. In 2008, he received a full scholarship to Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington; won an Outstanding Soloist award at Monterey’s Next Generation Festival, and was selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Mike has also been a featured artist at Catalina’s Young Artist Jazz Series in Los Angeles, and has played professional gigs in many of the top L.A. jazz clubs as a band leader and sideman. He has shared the stage with Kevin Kanner, Josh Nelson, Austin Peralta, Gerald Clayton, Graham Dechter, Melissa Morgan, and Gilbert Castellanos. 2009 will be Mike's second year as bassist in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trombonist Jon Hatamiya, 17, is a senior at Davis High School in Davis, California, where he plays lead trombone in their Jazz Band, is principal trombone in the Symphonic Band, and is a member of the DHS Jazz Combo. He is also a current member of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars. In 2007, Jon was selected to the California Band Director Association’s High School All-State Concert Band. In 2008, he was selected as a finalist for the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensemble and received an award of excellence with the DHS Big Band at the Folsom Jazz Festival. In 2009, Jon was selected as a member of the California Band Director Association’s High School All-State Wind Symphony, was selected as a member of the Reno Jazz Festival All-Star Combo, won two outstanding Big Band and Combo Soloist Awards at the Folsom Jazz Festival and received another soloist award at the Delta Jazz Festival in Stockton, California. He has also been the principal trombone in the Northern California Band and Choir Director's Association Honor Band in 2008 and 2009. Jon currently studies with Joel Elias, Principal Trombone of the Sacramento Philharmonic. 2009 is the first year Jon has been chosen for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trombonist Chris Kennedy, 17, is a graduate of Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, Arizona. He performs with the Arizona Jazz Academy and has received solo awards at the Fullerton and Northern Arizona University jazz festivals in 2008 and 2009, and has additionally won a soloist award at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He is a four-year member of the Arizona All-State Jazz Band and was awarded an all-expenses paid scholarship to Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program in 2008. He participates locally in the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra as well as in regional and all-state honor bands. Chris plans to attend Princeton in the fall of 2009. This will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Vocalist Ben Lusher, 16, is a senior at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Born and raised in Bermuda, he began private piano instruction at age 4 and has been performing live since the age of 12. In 2007, the Bermuda School of Music awarded him their Student of Distinction Scholarship. Ben has taken part in jazz programs such as the 2005-2008 Litchfield Jazz Camp, the 2007 and 2008 Skidmore Jazz Institute and the 2008 and 2009 Stanford Jazz Workshop’s Jazz Residency Vocal Program, where he has studied with vocalists Dena DeRose, Karrin Allyson and Madeline Eastman. In 2009, Ben performed at the Havana International Jazz Festival in Cuba as a member of Bermuda-based band, “The UNIT.” In addition, he was also selected for the 2009 Telluride Jazz Festival All-Stars and the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Choir, a group that performed alongside Joe Lovano, Terence Blanchard, Cassandra Wilson, and Herbie Hancock. Ben moved to New York in 2008 and is now enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Jazz Program in addition to his regular high school education. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Drummer Jimmy Macbride, 18, is a graduate of Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut, and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. In 2009, Jimmy was chosen to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and performed at the Music for All Festival in Indianapolis with the Jazz Band of America. In 2008, he attended the Vail Jazz Workshop and the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony. Jimmy has been awarded several full scholarships to Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program; other honors include three ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composers Awards for his original works. In 2009, Jimmy received Honorable Mention from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and received an Honorable Mention from the Stamford Symphony Instrumental Scholarship Competition in Connecticut. DownBeat has honored Jimmy four times with its Student Music Awards, and he has received the Percussive Arts Society’s Larrie Londin Memorial Scholarship, as well as PASIC Scholarship. Some of Jimmy’s recent performances include a tour of Russia, with a performance at the 2009 Irkutsk Jazz Festival with the Kris Allen Quartet; the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz and the Killingworth Center for the Arts in Connecticut, where he opened for pianist Aaron Goldberg. This will be Jimmy’s second year as a member of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist Paul-Eirik Melhus, 17, is a graduate of Ironwood High School in Glendale, Arizona. Picking up the tenor saxophone in the 5th grade, he performed at 2002 International Association for Jazz Education Conference in Long Beach, California with the Marshall Ranch Elementary Jazz Band, Arizona’s first elementary jazz ensemble to receive this honor. As a member of Deer Valley High School, he performed at the 2006 Next Generation Festival in Monterey, California, and at the 2006 Midwest International Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. That same year, Paul was invited to play with the Music for All Festival’s Jazz Band of America. He has also received scholarships to the 2008 and 2009 Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony in Stockton, California, studying with Joe Gilman, Frank Morgan, Ed Soph, and Marvin Stamm. In 2008 and 2009, Paul was a finalist in the Gibson/Baldwin Jazz Ensemble, and was a finalist for the 2009 Brubeck Institute Fellowship program. He has performed with artists such as Wayne Bergeron, Rebeca Mauleón, Bobby Shew, Wynton Marsalis, and Pete Christlieb. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Drummer Sammy Miller, 17, is currently a senior at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where he is a member of their top combo and big band. Beginning his musical career at age five with his siblings in "Underage," he performed for seven years across California. In 2007, and as a member of the Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Jazz Combo, he tied for first place in the AA High School Combo category at the Reno Jazz Festival. Sam has also played for the Colburn Jazz Workshop, the California Band Directors Association Southern California Jazz Honor Band, and the Asia America Youth Orchestra. In 2008, Sammy toured Alaska with jazz legend Bobby Watson and Lisa Henry as part of the Thelonious Monk Institute’s Peer-to-Peer Jazz Program. In 2009, the LASCHSA combo won its division at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival in Boston; Sammy won the festival’s Judges’ Award as well as the combo division’s highest accolade: the Superior Musician Award. He was recently announced as the 2009 Dolo Coker Scholarship winner and was a Spotlight Awards finalist at the Music Center in Los Angeles. Sammy has performed with the Josh Nelson Trio, Ozomatli, and has toured with David Benoit’s quartet. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Guitarist Adam Moezinia, 17, attends the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and has been playing guitar since the age of nine. In 2007, he was selected for the Southern California Band and Orchestra Association's Big Band. In 2008, Adam toured Alaska with jazz legend Bobby Watson and Lisa Henry as part of the Thelonious Monk Institute’s Peer-to-Peer Jazz Program and was selected from jazz students nationwide to perform in Los Angeles for the Monk Institute and The Recording Academy’s Two American Classics Gala Benefit Concert honoring B.B. King. In 2009, he was awarded a full scholarship to the Berklee School of Music Five-Week Performance Program and Summer Jazz Workshop. He is a member of the LACHSA jazz ensemble selected to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2009 Essentially Ellington Jazz Competition in New York City, and performed with the LACHSA jazz combo in Kansas City with Bobby Watson. Most recently, LACHSA’s Big Band won first place at Monterey’s Next Generation Jazz Festival. Adam will perform with LACHSA along with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

Trombonist Kyle Molitor, 15, will be a junior at Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon, where he plays in their Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble. Kyle is also a two-year member of the award-winning American Music Program under the direction of Thara Memory, and additionally plays with Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony and Youth Jazz Orchestra. Kyle has performed with AMP at the North Texas Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City, the Next Generation Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival. In 2009, Kyle was a featured soloist with AMP at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and the Swing Central competition at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, where he worked with Wycliffe Gordon, members of the Marcus Roberts Trio and the Clayton Brothers Quintet. Influenced by J.J. Johnson’s solos and technique, Fred Wesley’s style and passion, and the sound of big band leader Doc Severinsen, 2009 will be Kyle’s first year in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist Andrew Olson, 17, will be a senior at Tualatin High School in Tualatin, Oregon where he plays lead alto for the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, and studies with Scott Hall and Warren Rand. Over the past several years, Andrew has been a member of Oregon’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s Jazz I Band (2005-2009) and a member of the Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra I (2008-2009) as lead alto, and has performed with both bands at the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival. Also a two-year member of the American Music Program under the direction of Thara Memory, Andrew is currently AMP’s lead alto and has performed with the band in many competitions and jazz festivals throughout the country, including Monterey’s Next Generation Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City; the Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago; the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho, the North Texas Jazz Festival, the Clark College Jazz Festival in Vancouver, Washington, the Northwest Jazz Band Festival in Oregon; and the Savannah Music Festival’s Swing Central Competition in Georgia. In 2008, he was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Oregon Summer Jazz Camp, and while he was there, he received the MVP award and several soloist awards. Andrew additionally studies classical saxophone and was the 2008 District Champion. Andrew is also a three-year participant in the Oregon State Solo Championships from 2007-2009. This will be Andrew’s first year in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Bass trombonist Emmanuel Rojas, 17, will be a senior at Warren High School in Downey, California, were he plays both lead and bass trombone for the Advanced Placement Jazz I Band. Emmanuel has been playing music since the 4th grade, and has been a member of the Los Angeles Youth Jazz Ensemble since 2007; was selected to the 2008 and 2009 Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association Jazz All-Stars and Honor Jazz Ensemble, and was a three-year member of the Hollywood Canteen Swing Band. He is also a member of the 2008-09 Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra of California in Los Angeles. He won the Judges Choice Award at the 2007 Play Days Festival in Monterey Park, California, and, in 2008, he received Judges Recognition at the Irvine, Fullerton, and Reno Jazz Festivals, and was selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Emmanuel has studied trombone with Andy Martin, Jacques Voyemant and John Daversa; he currently studies with Bill Reichenbach, John Lofton of the L.A. Philharmonic and John Morgan. 2009 will be the second year Emmanuel has been selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Trumpeter Cody Rowlands, 17, is a senior at Ironwood High School in Glendale, Arizona. He has performed in ensembles including the Deer Valley High School Performance Jazz Ensemble, the Arizona All-State Jazz Band and Orchestra, Southwest Regional Band, the Young Sounds of Arizona, the Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Youth Jazz Band, the Arizona Jazz Academy Ellington Band, and the Arizona Jazz Academy Blue Note Combo. In 2008, he received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program. Cody has also performed at the 2006 Midwest International Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago; the 2007 Western International Band Conference in Seattle; the 2008 International Association for Jazz Education Conference in Toronto and Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival in Arizona; and the 2009 Fullerton Jazz Festival in California. He has performed with Mike Kocour, Pete Christlieb, Ron McCurdy, Rebeca Mauleon, Joel DiBartolo, Wayne Bergeron, Carl Saunders, Mike Vax, Tony Monaco, Jesse McGuire, Dennis Rowland and Brice Winston. This is the first year Cody has been selected for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist Patrick Sargent is a graduate of Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon. He has been playing the saxophone since the 5th grade, and currently studies with David Valdez and Alan Jones. In 2007, Patrick won a DownBeat Student Music Award in the Best High School Jazz Combo category with Portland’s PDX Jazz Collective, and in 2008, he won a DownBeat Outstanding Performance Citation in the High School Jazz Soloist category. In 2009, he was awarded a Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Honorable Mention. Patrick has additionally studied with Charles McPherson, Steve Wilson, Jon Gordon, Warren Rand, Randy Porter, and Thara Memory. In the fall, Patrick will attend New York University. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist Maximillian Zooi is currently a junior at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts were he studies under Walter Smith III, Jason Goldman, and Bill Wysaske. In 2008, he attended the full-scholarship Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program and Summer Jazz Workshop where he worked extensively with Terri Lyne Carrington. Currently studying privately with Ben Wendel, Max has played with many musicians, including Terri Lyne Carrington, Christian McBride and Kendrick Scott. In 2007, he played at the 50th Monterey Jazz Festival with the LACHSA Big Band. 2009 will be his first year selected to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.