Instrument Trumpet

Year(s) in EE 1998 (Finalist)

High School Upper Darby High School—Drexel Hill, PA

College
Lebanon Valley College, B.A. in Music, B.S. in Music Education;
Boston University—M.M. in Music Education—in progress

Current Position
High school band director—Central Dauphin High School, Harrisburg, PA

Favorite EE Tune and Why
“Black and Tan Fantasy”—The piece had such an interesting character. It was also new and different.

How did EE influence where you are today?
I was in marching band and concert band in high school and thought jazz band sounded like fun, but I didn’t really know anything about it. When I started listening and found out about the history with EE, then it meant more. Going to New York and seeing the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra play, I was beside myself. It propelled me into a career in music. Before then, I thought I was going to be an engineer. For my college essay, I wrote about the experience of going to the EE Festival. There was such joy in the music, so much emotion and expression. It wasn’t just playing notes. It was living life and seeing people who could express themselves and get others to feel just by watching and listening. Ellington music taught me to notice and appreciate subtlety and beauty in all aspects of music.

What is your best EE memory?
The band that was judged the winners got to play with Wynton Marsalis. There was this moment when a high school trumpet player was soloing. He used some quote or something from Wynton and Wynton came up and nudged him out of the way, and while playing his trumpet, forced the other guy off, as a joke. It was very humorous and interesting at the same time. They were having a conversation. We worked on soloing and communicating with each other, but to see it happen in front of a giant audience so effectively. That was the first time I had ever seen something like that.

Where is jazz in your life?
I teach two high school jazz bands. This year we put in a tape for EE for the first time. We didn’t get in but it was cool going through the process. We went to the Regional EE Festival at Temple University. The judge’s comments were really constructive. It wasn’t about trying to get a great score. It was about making the most exciting jazz you could. I still play every once in a while. I listen all the time and go to concerts.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Listen to it live.

Instrument Voice and Baritone Saxophone

Year(s) in EE 2000 (Finalist), 2001 (Non-Finalist)

High School Mountlake Terrace High School—Mountlake Terrace, WA

College University of Southern California, B.A. in Philosophy

Current Position
Works for a Web site development company in Seattle; founder of an annual jazz festival in Seattle

Favorite EE Moment
That was the year Sara Gazarek sang ‘I’ve Got It Bad.’ She was fantastic. Here’s the beautiful thing about the community EE creates. We both went to USC, sang in jazz choir, became friends and now Sara is a guest artist at the jazz festival I produce.

How did EE influence where you are today?
When you’re in a band, it’s about you knowing your stuff and playing the best you can. It’s also about how that relates with everyone else. In jazz, there’s the element of spontaneity and improvisation. Whether you’re in business or whatever you do, those things come into play: understanding the essence of team...being able to create great things right on the spot. The company I work for has a division that focuses on the arts. I got the job partly because of being creative “on the spot” (and well-organized, too) at a meeting I went to with my bosses to pitch a project - to none other than Jazz at Lincoln Center.

What’s special about EE?
What EE did for our ensemble was provide us a milestone to aim for, and provided energy and focus in preparing. Not that we didn’t have that before EE. Certainly the band that I was in performed a lot throughout the community and in jazz festivals. But this was a milestone for us. It was something to prepare for that we could really be proud of, to be among the most fantastic bands of the country so we could enjoy each other’s musicianship, we could enjoy the camaraderie and inspiration that goes with that, the pride in making great music together.

Where is jazz in your life?
There’s a nonprofit foundation I started, the Friends of Frank DeMiero Foundation, in honor of my father. We produce our own little piece of something like EE right here in Seattle where young people can participate in a festival that is supportive and nurturing. I also had an earlier experience working with kids at USC when I started jazz choirs at two elementary schools that didn’t have music programs. I put a lot of what I learned at EE and in the rehearsal room to use.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Take advantage of every musical opportunity you can. Soak it up.

Instrument Alto and Tenor Saxophone

Year(s) in EE 1999 (Finalist), 2000 (Non-Finalist)

High School Williamsville East High School – Williamsville, NY

College
Canisius College—B.A. in English; University of Buffalo School of Medicine, M.D.

Current Occupation
First year intern in a psychiatric residency program affiliated with the University of Buffalo School of Medicine

Favorite EE Tune “Oclupaca”

How did EE influence where you are today?
The discipline of learning an instrument prepares you for the discipline you have to put in to get through medical school. You have to not give up when it’s difficult. At EE , I got feedback from Wynton Marsalis who noticed I was using the same ideas when soloing on different pieces. He suggested I try to develop new ideas. I spent the summer after my junior year and a lot of senior year working on new ideas. It was good advice. The creativity I got out of playing jazz helped me with creativity in college. Being a doctor you have to be creative and improvise a little. In psychiatry, certain patients are difficult to interview. You have to almost improvise, so it’s not what you want to do, but you follow the patient and listen, similar to listening in a jazz ensemble. I thought I could either be a musician who always wanted to be a doctor—or a doctor who plays music on the side. I think I liked the idea of helping people through medicine and felt called to go into medicine. I’m happy with the decision I made and music is still a big part of my life.

What is your best EE memory?
There was a jam session with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members and I got called up to play a solo with the rhythm section. That was really exciting. The whole weekend was great. The LaGuardia band won that year. Hearing them perform was really exciting - to hear what kids our age sounded like. They sounded like a professional group. I got motivated to really practice more after hearing some of the guys my age from LaGuardia. I wound up making the All-State jazz ensemble the next year, which was probably no small part because of the experience I had.

Where is jazz in your life?
I performed a lot in college, with the jazz ensemble and private gigs. I played through most of medical school. I don’t play as much as I used to but get hired for a few gigs. My brother is a music teacher and jazz musician. We sometimes play gigs together. I listen to a lot of jazz, particularly on rides to the hospital.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Have fun with it. Hear live jazz. Listen to professional recordings. And practice hard.

Instrument Clarinet, Alto saxophone

Year(s) in EE 2000 (Finalist), 2001-2002 (Non-Finalist)

High School
Rochester Area Jazz Ensemble—Rochester, NY; Honeoye Falls-Lima High Schoo— Honeoye Falls, NY

College
Crane School of Music—B.M. Music Education; Boston University—M.M. Ed

Current Occupation
Elementary School Band Director—Penn Yan (NY) Elementary School

Favorite EE Tune and why
“The Mooche”—Three clarinets playing together—it’s every clarinetist’s dream

How did EE influence where you are today?
I was in regular band and was always razzing our band director because I wanted to be in jazz band but he didn’t have any clarinet parts. My sophomore year ‘The Mooche’ [with three clarinet parts] was one of the EE songs and I played it in our high school jazz band. Then a bunch of area band directors threw us all together in a conglomerate group, the Rochester Area Jazz Ensemble. We were Finalists in 2000. Listening to Wynton Marsalis speak about education at the Festival was so exciting. Victor Goines was our personal clinician at the Festival and hearing him play and getting pointers from a professional was terrific. That’s when I started thinking that I wanted to be a music teacher.

What is one of your best EE Memories?
Victor Goines was our “personal” clinician. He’s a fabulous musician. Hearing him play and getting pointers from a professional was just terrific. Going to the Copa Cabana and hearing everyone improvise with Wynton Marsalis. Then, at the final EE concert that the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra put on, I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. Just sitting there with Wynton right in front of me with that music just washing over me, I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.’

Where is jazz in your life?
I’ve been teaching at Penn Yan (NY) Elementary School for four years, introducing jazz in general music and band lessons. This year I’ve been doing an after-school jazz band, one day a week. We are doing an arrangement of ‘Take the A Train.’ They really like it. It’s starting to actually sound like something. I’m in a community band in the summer and listen to jazz every day. I hope to get a jazz combo together, but it’s hard when you’re married, have a job and kids. I have a 15-month-old daughter named Eleanor. Her nickname—Ella—was a little bit inspired by Ella Fitzgerald.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Listen to recordings. Live and breathe it. Also, let go a little bit.

Instrument Trumpet

Year(s) in EE 2004 (Non-Finalist)

EE Ensemble Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra—Columbus, OH

College Miami University (in Ohio)—B.A. in Music Education

Current Position
Special Projects Manager for Wynton Marsalis Enterprises—New York, NY

Favorite EE Moment
A band was warming up in a practice room, before going on stage. They were playing the opening of ‘Happy-Go-Lucky Local.’ All the kids in the band were smiling, moving with the music, loving it, living it and feeling it. They were about to go play on this big stage before all the judges, but they were so excited it didn’t bother them.

How did EE influence where you are today?
I auditioned for the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra (an all-city jazz band) and made it my senior year, the year they no longer allowed conglomerate bands to participate in the EE Festival in New York. The band had made it as a Finalist two years before. We weren’t in the running but we played the music, the first time I played the music of Duke Ellington. That was a life-changing experience. During my freshman year at college, I drove with friends for five hours to a Jazz at Lincoln Center concert in Michigan. After the concert, I spoke with the tour manager to ask how to get a cool job like hers. Her advice: intern. So that spring I came to New York and volunteered at the EE Festival. The next two years I interned in different departments of Jazz at Lincoln Center (including the Education department and working with EE). After college, I headed back and started doing temp jobs for Wynton’s assistant, working my way up to be Special Projects Manager. Where I am now, I can really link it up to EE.

What is special about EE?
In the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra I got to play Duke Ellington music, and Charles Mingus music, and Oliver Nelson, and all this stuff I’d never been exposed to. The Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra went to Peru for a week and played Duke’s music for Peruvian public school children. That was another life-changing experience —representing my country playing American music, EE music. Volunteering as a college freshman at EE opened up my eyes. I saw that all these kids loved this music.

Where is jazz in your life?
I still play trumpet but I’m not playing any gigs.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Try to find others who enjoy it. It’s a community thing. It’s hard to get good at jazz by yourself.

Instrument Voice

Year(s) in EE
2000 (Finalist), first winner of the Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Vocalist Award

High School Roosevelt High School—Seattle, WA

College University of Southern California—B.S. in Jazz Studies and Vocal Performance

Current Occupation Professional jazz vocalist, Los Angeles

Favorite EE Tune and why
“I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good”—It was the song I sang at EE, the first song I ever sang on stage. That one has a special place in my heart.

How did EE influence where you are today?
The moment I walked on stage at the EE Festival to do the solo is the moment I realized this was something I wanted to do as a career. During the week in New York, preparing for the competition, I realized how free and expressive I could be with music, and how supportive musicians are in jazz. Walking on stage and feeling at home was a turning point. I should have been terrified. Instead I felt joyful and free. I went on to study music at USC and since graduating have recorded CDs and toured, with education as a driving force. The festival inspired me to carry on the tradition of education.

Where is jazz in your life?
I’ve recorded two CDs and when we’re on tour we do clinics and workshops connected with different festivals. A lot of times on tour we offer workshops for free at a high school or elementary school. The workshops are enjoyable, to be part of the same process I went through as a student. I also have a number of private singing students that I teach here in Los Angeles.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Listen to solos by different instruments. Sing along with what a trumpet player is doing to get a feel for the way a trumpet player would do a solo. There are some instrumentalists who play the changes a little more clearly. Listen to different singers’ scatting and memorize it. Don’t hesitate to ask questions.

To read more about Sara and listen to recordings visit www.saragazarek.com.

Instrument Piano and Clarinet

Year(s) in EE 2000–2002 (Finalist)

High School Foxboro High School—Foxboro, MA

College Syracuse University, B.S. in Education

Current Position Elementary School Teacher, New York, NY

Favorite EE Tune and Why
“Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”—I didn’t play in that piece, but I loved that tune and the band sounded really good.

How did EE influence where you are today?
I’m a fourth grade teacher at a charter school in Queens, NY. Music was an important part of my life, but I was passionate about teaching general education to an elementary group, having my own class, building a sense of community, teaching all subjects. I’ve taken them to a couple of Jazz at Lincoln Center performances. Two years ago my dad’s high school ensemble played at our school. That was amazing. I try to use music and movement in my classes to teach about science and social studies. I take a song they know and the lyrics are replaced with content-area information. I didn’t decide to teach in New York City just because of EE but those special memories contributed. The level of commitment and the hard work that was required in our ensemble to reach EE, that work ethic is still with me in my job today, that kind of commitment, the passion that I’ve thrown into my job.

Where is jazz in your life?
I don’t have access to a piano but I break out my clarinet from time to time. With my sister (Joanna Massey) working at Jazz at Lincoln Center, that’s where I go most to hear jazz. I’ve been a ‘band host’ at the EE Festival the past few years. Each band gets a host, to answer questions, show them around.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
When you work hard with a group of committed individuals, it’s amazing what you can achieve.

Instrument Tenor saxophone, Clarinet

Year(s) in EE 1997-1999 (Finalist)

High School Foxboro High School—Foxboro, MA

College University of Massachusetts—B.A. in Political Science; Suffolk University Law School, J.D.

Current Position Lawyer in a Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office

Favorite EE Tune “Cottontail”—Ben Webster remains one of my favorite tenor players.

How did EE influence where you are today?
If I look back at EE and the jazz program in Foxboro, the most important lessons had little to do with music. These were lessons that can be applied to almost anything, lessons about the relentless pursuit of improvement. The sense of team is more important than your own ego, so get over yourself and respect your peers. Understand how much there is to learn from one’s peers rather than trying to compete with them. In terms of work ethic, is there any better preparation for the demanding time commitment of law school than the pursuit of excellence in playing the music of Duke Ellington? I practice criminal law. In some ways it’s like jazz. It’s a pursuit you can never absolutely master. It requires that you be constantly moving forward. As much as you learn, you’ll only come to understand how much more there is you don’t understand.

What is your best EE memory?
I was thrilled hearing the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton. At that point in my life I hadn’t heard big bands of that caliber live. That was the highlight of all three trips down—the opportunity to hear that band. It fuels the desire to hear music like that more.

How did EE influence your school’s music program?
Our music program was always a serious program. We knew even when we were in middle school that it was just understood that music in Foxboro is a demanding pursuit. If you take this on, it’s expected to be rigorous. Ellington music was already a regular part of the curriculum. But with EE, the library substantially expanded. Our band director Steve Massey made no secret of the fact that getting the original Ellington transcriptions prior to EE had been a difficult undertaking. There were a number of tunes that were regularly available but it wasn’t anything like what it is now, learning the best, most complex and most demanding jazz. I don’t think the competition was a driving force. Steve Massey strongly emphasized that music in general has nothing to do with this award or that prize or anything like that. It’s about the process. If you get the process right, you’re not going to have to waste your time worrying about how many accolades somebody gives you.

Where is jazz in your life?
I play with recordings. Now and then I get together with some guys. When I can hear live jazz, I do.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Listen to other students. I sat for years in band next to an alto sax player who has become a successful jazz musician. The point was to listen to him, see things I’m not doing that I should be working toward.

Instrument Bass

Year(s) in EE 2000-2001 (Finalist); Winner of outstanding soloist award in 2000.

High School The Lovett School—Atlanta, GA

College Dartmouth College, B.A.; London School of Economics, M.S.

Current Position
Investment banker, founder of a nonprofit that raises money for New Orleans arts organizations, author of Jazzocracy and Walk in My Shoes.

Favorite EE Tune “The Peanut Vendor”

How did EE influence where you are today?
I learned more from jazz music than from anything else in my life. Wynton Marsalis became a mentor. I toured with Wynton. I spent some time in politics, was a speech writer for John Kerry. At London School of Economics, I got away from jazz for a while and pursued my interests in political economics. I ended up writing a book called Jazzocracy. Jazz is democracy. That’s the metaphor of it. It’s call and response, people taking their turn to solo, resolving with the larger group. If you want to get somewhere, you have to get there in the group. That’s true of democracy. Everyone has a vote. Jazz also helps me as an investment banker. There are so many people on Wall Street who are into the music. Most of my clients, I take them to jazz clubs. I’ve bonded with dozens of people at work over music.

What is your best EE memory?
Going out with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) after performances and hanging around them. We went to a show at Birdland. We were all at a table with people from other schools and people from the JLCO. We were interfacing with people who were the best professionals in this world. I was from Atlanta, Georgia, and I hadn’t really interacted with people who made this their career. It was a neat opportunity.

What’s special about EE?
It was an affirmation that jazz is relevant. Jazz was not the most popular thing at my school. But to see that there are these kids who are my age who are so passionate about this music—it was good to know that not everyone wants to be on the football team. It was an affirmation that there’s a place in this world for jazz.

What’s special about jazz?
I was always interested in jazz. I was in fifth grade and my older sister was in the jazz band. I went to a concert and I couldn’t believe that someone would just be making up the music as it went along. I thought that was impossible. That’s not impossible—it’s the whole beauty of it. I started a little jazz band when I was in sixth grade. When I was in high school, I had a jazz trio that played at weddings and restaurants. It’s been my second career since I was eight or nine years old. In middle school, everyone needed a bass player and so I played my share of rock music—Nirvana, Green Day. I played plenty of country and salsa music. I was in the orchestra and played classical music. But for a bass player, the most interesting and challenging music is jazz. In rock you’re just playing the root chord, while the guitarist is soloing. It’s very repetitive. In jazz, if you listen to Bill Evans recordings, the bass is almost in a dance with the piano. In a big band the bass is always soloing. You’re making up the bass line within the parameters of the piece. It’s more challenging and more musical.

Where is jazz in your life?
I still play bass and have also created a nonprofit called Music for Tomorrow that books jazz musicians for gigs. We charge five to ten percent commission that goes to arts organizations in New Orleans.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
The practice is worth it. I’m glad I spent time when I was young getting good at the instrument because now that I’m working at a bank it’s tough to find time.

Instrument Trumpet

Year(s) in EE 1999

High School Roosevelt High School—Seattle, WA

College The New School University—New York, NY; The Juilliard School—New York, NY

Current Position
On tour with Michael Buble for the last five years, freelancing in New York and Los Angeles

Favorite EE Tune and why
I have many. I really love “Tutti for Cootie” and “Portrait of Louis Armstrong.” Those all have trumpet features, of course. I just always loved having the opportunity to play those pieces and getting to learn them and getting inside of them.

How did EE influence where you are today?
It has definitely influenced me dramatically because, after coming to EE when I was a junior in high school, it inspired me to have the confidence to move to New York to go to school at 18 when I attended The New School. It also built my connections in music by getting the chance to work with Wynton Marsalis and learn from him and be around him. It made me have the confidence to pursue a career in music. It opened up my world and all of my thinking as far as music is concerned. I was there rubbing shoulders with people I idolized in music. For me and for a lot of my colleagues and friends that I have who have come through EE, we always remember and talk about that experience of getting the opportunity to be around people—for the first time for many of us—who we really aspired to be like.

And as far as Duke Ellington and his music, to me, he means inspiration, diligence, determination, artistry…I think of him and I think of American classical music. He’s one of the best composers who has come out of jazz—maybe the most instrumental in the history of composition and arranging. Not to mention that he was also able to lead a band that focused mainly on his artistic vision and not necessarily the “dance” type of thing during a time when big bands were popular and very prevalent. To be able to do that and fuse his forward-thinking and his innovation with music that was accessible to people at that time is incredible.

I hope that EE continues for many, many years because it has inspired thousands of kids. And even if these students who get this opportunity don’t become professionals, they’re still going to keep that music and that experience with them for the rest of their lives and share it with their friends. Having the youth involved with the music is what’s keeping jazz alive. It’s what builds the audience for future generations.

Where is jazz in your life?
It’s what I do. It’s been a centerpiece in my pursuit of happiness.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Play with your heart and learn the science second. Just play with your heart and your life experience. And it’s not to say that learning technique isn’t important, but to really emote and be soulful, that’s what touches people the most—your heart. When you hear all of the jazz greats, this music wasn’t something they did on the side. This was their life. Like John Coltrane, for example. His music was his life experiences. An artist paints a picture of what they see. The most important thing is to play from the heart. Then do the research and make sure you have all the technique together because that’s very important. Most importantly, though, is to speak your voice.

For more information about Jumaane Smith, visit www.myspace.com/jumaanesmith.

Instrument Tenor saxophone, clarinet

Year(s) in EE 2001–2002 (Finalist); Winner of outstanding soloist award

High School Eau Claire Memorial High School—Eau Claire, WI

College
Chicago College of Performing Arts—B.M. Jazz Studies
University of New Orleans—M.M. Jazz Studies

Current Position
Instructor in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s WeBop program for preschoolers; freelance musician in New York City

Favorite EE Tune and Why
“Sophisticated Lady”—The challenge of working it up and presenting it to an audience, to receive the recognition of audience applause and outstanding soloist award left me absolutely on cloud nine.

How did EE influence where you are today?
EE was absolutely my introduction to learning about Duke Ellington. EE emphasizes Ellington’s swing, his integrity, his humanity, and most important his joy for playing and sharing music with people. It was ‘why’ he played music that has stuck with me and served as a catalyst for why I wanted to become a musician myself. Plus, getting to know Wynton Marsalis at EE was door-opening. I wasn’t as nervous to approach him when he came to Chicago in the years I lived there. I wasn’t as nervous to befriend his father or his brothers when I moved to New Orleans. Now, I find myself back in New York City, working for the organization that empowered me to venture on such a journey in the first place.

What kind of impact did EE have on your community?
For Eau Claire, EE has become a symbol of pride and small town achievement that the community has rallied around for over a decade. The same holds true for communities from all over Wisconsin—and North America for that matter. Sun Prairie, Pulaski, Beloit, Lake Geneva, and this year Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, all chosen as EE finalists over the past fifteen years, each transformed by the experience.

Where is jazz in your life?
I’ve begun shaping my career around the idea of music, no matter what style, always evoking joy in an audience. Teaching in WeBop, it’s my job to evoke a sense of wonder in our students by becoming a child myself. It’s fun for me, for the kids, for the adults. If we could only see the world through the eyes of children more, our world would become a better place. There are so many ways EE has influenced my working with children, but the one that is most significant in my mind, is the joy and wonderment that the experience provided me and how I now share that knowledge and passion in my teaching.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
At Jazz at Lincoln Center, a choice has been made to emphasize WHY we play this music. Ellington was telling a story through every song he wrote.

To read Tim’s essay on how EE impacted his life, click here.

Instrument Saxophone, Flute

Year(s) in EE
1997-2000 (Finalist); Winner of outstanding soloist awards in 1998 and 2000.

High School Hall High School—West Hartford, CT

College
Manhattan School of Music; The Juilliard School—earning Juilliard’s first Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Performance.

Current Position
Professional jazz musician, jazz educator, EE clinician, jazz composer—New York, NY

Favorite EE Tune “Star-Crossed Lovers”

How did EE influence where you are today?
I remember playing ‘Prelude to a Kiss’ at EE in 10th grade. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I received a huge standing ovation, and I didn’t play the song to get that kind of response. I just played how I played it. I learned that I can convey a musical message to an audience. That was a pivotal moment. It said to me that whatever I’m doing to keep doing it. The amount of effort and work that you have to put in to get to EE—that was an amazing experience, to force yourself to get serious about music at a young age. Meeting bands from all over the country and being in New York City—it was magical and exciting.

Where is jazz in your life?
I’ve been playing with a jazz band called ‘The Secret Society’ and have been working on my own projects with my band called ‘Erica von Kleist and No Exceptions.’ I have four new singles out on iTunes and I’m recording three more singles and hope to have a new album out by the end of the year. I’m also working in the pit band of ‘The Addams Family’ on Broadway, playing flute, piccolo, alto flute, saxophone and clarinet. I also have some private students. In addition, I’ve performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and other ensembles, and have recorded albums with Chris Potter, Sean Jones and others.

Do you have any advice for other students studying this music?
Have fun with it. When you get up to do your solo, tell your story. Convey your musical ideas to the audience and try to connect. That’s going to help you feel more at one with the audience.

To read more about Erica and listen to recordings visit www.ericavonkleist.com.

Band Directors
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Staff
JLCO Musicians
Clinicians/Judges
Board Members