Two Western Connecticut State University students have been selected to join top college musicians from across the East Coast in the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra, which will debut on Monday, Jan. 5, in performance at the Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue in Midtown Manhattan.
Music education majors Molly Sayles, with a concentration in percussion, and Evan Gray, with a concentration in trombone, are among 28 students chosen from elite jazz music programs at colleges and conservatories spanning the Eastern seaboard from Virginia to Massachusetts to form this year’s orchestra. Sayles, of Quaker Hill, is one of two members of the orchestra chosen to perform on the drum set in the rhythm section; Gray, of Southington, will be featured in the orchestra’s solo trombone role.
Performers comprising the orchestra were selected by a committee of the Cumberland (Maryland) Jazz Society, which sponsors the arts initiative, from a pool of applicants nominated by instructors at their respective music programs. Since its founding in 2009, the orchestra has earned a reputation as an organization dedicated to celebrating and advancing the development of promising collegiate jazz musicians throughout the region.
“The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra has established itself as the premier collegiate all-star big band on the East Coast,” the society website for the orchestra observed. “With past performances in New Orleans, New York and Washington, D.C., the band’s members are among the finest up-and-coming jazz musicians and have represented more than 30 college and university jazz programs over the years.”
Jamie Begian, chair of the WCSU Department of Music and co-coordinator of jazz studies, has worked extensively with both students throughout their undergraduate education at Western.
“You will not find two more dedicated, talented and thoughtful students than Molly and Evan,” Begian remarked. “Their musicianship, attention to detail, and creative thinking are great examples of the type of music students we seek to cultivate at Western.
The orchestra’s performance at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola will feature two sets, beginning at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., conducted by jazz trumpeter, composer and educator Sean Jones. Jones has released five albums as bandleader and toured widely with his groups in the United States and abroad, and has performed as lead trumpeter for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He was featured on Nancy Wilson’s 2007 Grammy Award-winning album “Turned to Blue.”
Table and bar reservations for the Jan. 5 performance may be made online at www.jazz.org/dizzys or by calling (212) 258-9595. The club is located in the Frederick P. Rose Hall, which houses all venues of the Jazz at Lincoln Center program.
The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra also will perform under Jones’ direction at the “Weekend of Jazz in Downtown Cumberland” event on April 10 and 11, 2015, in Cumberland, Maryland.
For more information, contact the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.
Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York.
Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.