Monterey Jazz Festival Announces 2019 Next Generation Jazz Festival Results

Monterey Jazz Festival is proud to announce the results of the annual Next Generation Jazz Festival. A full list of top groups, scholarship and award winners can be found on montereyjazzfestival.org.

In the High School Big Band Division, top honors went to Downey High School Jazz Band I (Downey, Calif.), Corneliu Olariu, director, for their first win in the Division. Second place went to Rio Americano High School AM Jazz Ensemble (Sacramento, Calif.), Josh Murray, director, who will be making their 17th appearance at MJF since 1988. Third place went to Northgate High School (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Greg Brown, director, making it their sixth consecutive appearance at MJF. All three ensembles will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the High School Combo Division, top honors went to Hamilton High School Jazz Ensemble A (Los Angeles, Calif.), Jim Foschia, director, their first win since 2011. The runner-up was Rio Americano High School Children Hearing Music (Sacramento, Calif.), Josh Murray, director. Third place went to Crossroads School Jazz A Band, (Santa Monica, Calif.), Evan Avery, director. Hamilton High School Jazz Ensemble A will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the High School Vocal Ensemble Division, top honors went to Valencia High School "Two N' Four" (Valencia, Calif.), Christine Tavares-Mocha, director, for the second year in a row. Second place went to Folsom High School Jazz Choir I (Folsom, Calif.), Curtis Gaesser, director. Third place went to Mead High School (Spokane, Wash.), Mike Saccomanno, director. Valencia High School Two N' Four and Folsom High School Jazz Choir will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the High School Vocal Soloist Division, top honors went to Zion Dyson from The Bishop's School (San Diego, Calif.). Runner up was Rebecca Ramirez from Downey High School (Downey, Calif.). Third place was Samantha Spector from Winward School (Los Angeles, Calif.). Zion Dyson will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the High School Conglomerate Big Band Division, top honors went to the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra (San Francisco, Calif.), Paul Contos, director. It was their third win in a row and their sixth win in the division since 2013. The runner-up was the Colburn Jazz Workshop Big Band (Los Angeles, Calif.), Lee Secard, director. Third place went to the Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Big Band (Tucson, Az.), Johnathan Black, director. The SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Jazz Orchestra will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the High School Conglomerate Combo Division, top honors went to the Tucson Jazz Institute Concord Combo (Tucson, Az.), Brice Winston, director. It is their first win since 2014 in the division. Second place went to Colburn Jazz Workshop Monday Night Band (Los Angeles, Calif.), Lee Secard, director. Third place went to the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory New Soil Ensemble (San Diego, Calif.), Gilbert Castellanos, director. Tucson Jazz Institute Concord Combo will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the College Big Band Division, the top group was the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano Jazz Orchestra (San Jose, Costa Rica); Carlomagno Araya, director. It is the first time that a group outside the United States has won the division, and only the second time that a non-US group has won any division. Second place went to University of Southern California Thornton Jazz Orchestra (Los Angeles, Calif.), Bob Mintzer, director. Third place went to University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jazz Ensemble I (Las Vegas, Nev.), Dave Loeb & Nathan Tanouye, directors. Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano Jazz Orchestra will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the College Vocal Ensemble Division, the top group was California State University, Long Beach Pacific Standard Time (Long Beach, Calif.), Christine Helferich Guter, director. This was their first win since 2014, and their fourth win since 2009. The runner-up was University of Miami Frost School of Music Vocal Jazz I (Coral Gables, Fla.), Kate Reid, director. Third place went to Sacramento State Vox Now (Sacramento, Calif.), Gaw Vang-Williams, director. California State University, Long Beach Pacific Standard Time will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

In the College Combo Division, top honors went to Columbia University Jazz Combo (New York, N.Y.), Bruce Barth, director, making their debut appearance at NGJF. The runner-up was University of Miami Frost School of Music Stamps Quintet (Coral Gables, Fla.), Chuck Bergeron, director. In third place was California State University, Northridge Amanda Hamilton Group (Northridge, Calif.), Matt Harris, director. Columbia University Jazz Combo will perform at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

For a complete list of top ensembles, outstanding soloists and scholarship recipients, please visit https://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/NGJF/2019-next-generation-jazz-festival-results

Next Generation Jazz Festival finalists, some of the most talented middle school, high school and college musicians from the United States and abroad, are selected through recorded auditions reviewed by a panel of nationally-renowned jazz educators. Sixty-eight ensembles from 11 states, Costa Rica and Denmark were selected in 10 divisions, with another 40 special guest groups coming as far from Japan performing 160 live events during the weekend.

The 49th Next Generation Jazz Festival began on Friday, April 5, to a crowd of 1,700 in the Monterey Conference Center for the Friday Night Judges Concert, presented by the California Jazz Conservatory, with music the Sheila del Bosque Quartet from Berklee College of Music; Allison Miller and bassist Derrick Hodge; Justin Kauflin, piano; Patrick Bartley, alto saxophone; Adam Larson, tenor saxophone; Tanya Darby, trumpet; Lauren Sevian, baritone saxophone; Steve Wiest, trombone; Russell Malone, guitar; and Michael Mayo, vocals, all performed to the enthusiastic house.

Over 2,000 students, fans, parents and patrons attended Saturday's activities, which included over 100 back-to-back performances on seven stages in downtown Monterey. In addition, clinics were held by Sheila del Bosque, from Berklee College of Music, and Artists-in-Residence Allison Miller and Derrick Hodge. After nine hours of performances, students and parents packed the Serra Ballroom to hear the announcement of the top high school big bands, vocal ensembles and combos, and soloist and scholarship award winners, with a Showcase Concert later that evening previewing the 2019 Monterey Jazz Festival. The MJF-sponsored and well-received Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo closed out the evening.

On Sunday, April 7, the final divisions of the Next Generation Jazz Festival took place, with nearly 60 additional performances, clinics and events with Middle School, Conglomerate and College ensembles.

The Next Generation Jazz Festival and the Media Center for Art, Education and Technology (MCAETtv) provided local TV coverage and live web streaming on YouTube all weekend, with over 22,000 views. Performances are now archived on MCAETtv's YouTube channel.