CONGRATULATIONS TO THE
2011 NEXT GENERATION TOP GROUPS!

2011 NEXT GENERATION JAZZ FESTIVAL FINALISTS

READ THE 2011 NEXT GENERATION PRESS RELEASE

2011 NEXT GENERATION FESTIVAL JUDGES AND ADJUDICATORS

2011 NEXT GENERATION JAZZ FESTIVAL
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (PDF)

VOLUNTEER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION JAZZ FESTIVAL

Every Spring, the Monterey Jazz Festival invites the top student musicians from across the country and around the world to participate in the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

The three-day event includes performances by middle school through college level ensembles as well as competitions, with awards going to the top groups for High School, Conglomerate, and College Big Band Divisions; for High School and College Vocal Ensembles; for High School Combos; and for our newest component, the Open Combo Division for high school conglomerate and college level ensembles. The event also includes Next Generation Jazz Festival's annual Composition Competition, open to high school composers or younger. The top three high school big bands, top high school combo, top conglomerate big band, top college-level big band and vocal ensemble, top two high school vocal ensembles, and top Open Division combo will win cash awards and be invited to perform at the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival presented by Verizon, September 16 - 18, 2011. In total, 10 groups from the Next Generation Festival will perform at 2011 MJF, with the top high school big band kicking off the Arena/Lyons Stage program on Sunday, September 18, 2011. Other selected groups will perform in the Night Club, the Garden Stage, and the Coffee House Gallery on the Grounds.

Auditions will also be held for chair positions in the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, which embarks on a summer tour and is a featured ensemble on the Festival's Sunday afternoon (September 18, 2011) Arena/Lyons Stage program. For MJF/54, Joshua Redman, MJF’s Artist-In-Residence for 2011, will perform as a guest soloist with the NGJO.

Next Generation Jazz Festival finalists are selected through recorded auditions by faculty from the Berklee College of Music, and will include twelve big bands, six combos, and eight vocal ensembles in the High School Division. Six college-level big bands and six college vocal ensembles will also be selected, in addition to six conglomerate bands, six middle school big bands and six Open Division Combos for college and conglomerate high school ensembles.

The Next Generation Jazz Festival will also feature special invited groups. In 2010, over sixty groups from across the United States attended the Next Generation Jazz Festival. In addition, the Big Band Composition Competition is open to high school student composers. Judged by college faculty from leading music schools across the country, the winning composer will receive the Gerald Wilson Award and a cash prize, with the winning composition to be performed by the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra at the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 18, 2011 on the Jimmy Lyons Stage in the Arena before a crowd of 6500 fans.

All Next Generation Jazz Festival events and activities - From Friday night's Kick-Off Concert through Saturday and Sunday's Next Generation Jazz Festival Jazz Competition are open to the public, free of charge. The Festival will also conduct clinics, workshops, jam sessions, and auditions in the heart of historic Monterey, with music to be performed at the Monterey Conference Center, the host Portola Plaza Hotel, Gilbert’s Restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Monterey History & Maritime Museum.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is also pleased to announce that the Artist-In-Residence for MJF/54 in 2011 will be award winning saxophonist Joshua Redman.

The following categories are now closed for 2011:

High School Big Bands
High School Combos
High School Vocal Jazz Ensembles
High School Conglomerate Big Bands
Middle School Big Bands
College Big Bands
College Vocal Jazz Ensembles
College and High School Conglomerate (Open) Combos
High School Big Band Composition Competition

Please see below for information about live auditions to the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.

NEXT GENERATION JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Information for Chair Auditions (includes vocal soloist)

Application Guidelines for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra

• All student musicians entering or enrolled in high school are eligible.
• Individuals are invited to compete for a chair with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra through a live audition at the Next Generation Jazz Festival on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011, from 9:00am to Noon. Criteria for videotape and live auditions will be the same and available online. Please note: only CD accompaniment will be allowed at the live auditions! CD recordings will be provided.
• In addition to performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September, members of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra will participate in a performance tour to Japan in summer 2011.
• The names of students selected will be posted on the MJF website by April 18th, 2011.
• Download, complete, and bring in the application form to the audition.

All auditions will be held at the Monterey Conference Center in the Ferrante, Colton, Ironwood, and Serra 2 Conference rooms on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011, from 9:00am to Noon.

Location:
Monterey Conference Center
1 Portola Plaza
Monterey, CA

Our thanks to AT&T Foundation for their support

For other giving options (credit card by phone, gifts of stock, planned gifts), please contact us at 831.373.3366 or e-mail jazzinfo@montereyjazzfestival.org.