All-State Jazz
2009 - 2010 Utah All-State Jazz Ensemble Auditions
All State Jazz Results and Info
All-State Jazz Results 2009-20101. All members of the band must pay a $65.00 participation fee. (Check payable to UMEA) This fee covers the All-State Jazz expenses including our guest conductor, Jeff Tower, (bio attached). This fee must be received by Tues, December 22, 2009. Failure to pay by that date will result in an alternate being selected to membership in the band. Participation fee is not required of alternates unless they become full members of the band.
2. Music will be sent out via email.
3. Rehearsals will be held in January. They are scheduled as follows:
Saturday, January 9, 2010 at Orem High School (9:30 AM- 12:00 PM)
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at Orem High School (9:30 AM- 12:00 PM)
4. UMEA Mid-Winter Conference Performance and rehearsals.
a. Rehearsals: Thursday, February 4, 2010, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at a site to be determined. This rehearsal will be our first with Jeff Tower. Friday, February 5, 2010, 9:00 - 11:30 am; 2:30 - 4:30 pm and 6:00 - 7:30 pm at the Dixie Center where the conference is held. Saturday, February 6, 2010, Dress rehearsal, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm at the Dixie Center.
b. Performance: Saturday, February 6, 2008, from 3:30 pm until 4:30 pm at the Dixie Center, St. George, UT.
5. BYU Jazz Festival. Saturday, March 6, 2010 around noon (approximately 45 minute program) in the Harris Fine Arts Center on the Brigham Young University Campus. Warm up will be held at 11:00 AM at the performing venue along with a sound check.
6. Dress for all performances is professional dress. This means dress slacks, shirt, tie and jacket for the male members of the band and pants suits or modest dresses for the female members of the band. Of course proper footwear, including socks is part of professional dress.
7. If any member of the Utah 2009-10 All-State Jazz Band is unable to meet this rehearsal and performance schedule, it is imperative that you notify Mr. Summers immediately so an alternate can be placed in your spot. If it becomes necessary to replace a member of the All-State Jazz Band, alternates selected as replacements must be prepared to make a full commitment to rehearsal and performance schedules. Any Questions?
Call Howard Summers
(801) 277-8765 (Orem High School)
(801) 910-4132 (cell)
Email: jazz@umea.us (preferred mode)
Guest Conductor
Dr. Jeffrey James Tower
Dr. Tower received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa and his Master of Music Degree in Trombone Performance at the University of Redlands. Mr. Tower was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from Pacific Western University for his accomplishments in Music Education in 1985.Dr. Tower retired in 2008 after being the Director of Bands at Hemet High School in Hemet, California for 30 years. Under his direction, the instrumental music program maintained a fantastic reputation as one of the nation’s finest, appearing at the Pasadena Rose Parade, the Aloha Bowl, and the Montreux and Playboy jazz festivals. Hemet Bands also performed at multiple WIBC, Midwest and IAJE conventions, won many sweepstakes awards at various World of Music Festivals, and was selected as a Grammy Signature Program. In conjunction with his Hemet position, Mr. Tower is also the chairman of Summer Jazz Studies at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. He has served as an adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor at music festivals, conventions and camps all over the nation in both the Jazz and Classical venues. He serves as an educational specialist and trombone artist for Conn/Selmer Musical Instruments, is a member of the University of Northern Iowa School of Music Advisory Board and American Band College Faculty.
As a professional trombonist, Jeff Tower has experience in all aspects of the music industry, including symphony orchestras, movie soundtracks, Broadway productions, tv commercials, recording projects, casuals, and shows. He has performed with Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett to name a few. Jeff has participated in over 300 recording projects as a performer, conductor or producer. He served as president for the International Association of Jazz Educators in California and jazz coordinator for the Southern California School Band Association for a term of eight years. He is currently past president of the California Alliance for Jazz.
Jeff is also the owner of K & J Clinicians and is the marketing director of LMP Studios.
Special awards include being selected as an outstanding educator at the World of Music Festivals, Hemet Jaycee’s Teacher of the Year, National Band Association’s Outstanding Jazz Educator Award, Selection into the National Band Director’s Hall of Fame, W.I.B.C Phoenix Award, Mid-West Band and Orchestra Medal of Honor, and being the recipient of Downbeat Magazine’s Jazz Education Achievement Award and The Sousa Legion of Honor.
Originally from Greene, Iowa, Jeff resides in Hemet, California with his children, Jonathan, Justin and Jamie, and his father David.