2019 Next Generation Jazz Festival Now Accepting Applications

Monterey Jazz Festival, a leader in jazz education since its inception in 1958, is pleased to announce the 49th Annual Next Generation Jazz Festival, featuring the nation's most talented middle school, high school, conglomerate, and college instrumental ensembles, vocal jazz ensembles, and soloists at the Monterey Conference Center from April 5-7, 2019.

The free Next Generation Jazz Festival will feature drummer Allison Miller and bassist Derrick Hodge as the 2019 Monterey Jazz Festival Artists-in-Residence.

New for 2019 are online auditions for the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo, open to top high school women jazz players throughout the United States. This new combo will perform at the Jazz Education Network conference in Reno, Nevada in January 2019, at the Next Generation Jazz Festival, and at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival.

Applications are now being accepted from middle school big bands; high school big bands, combos, vocal jazz ensembles, vocal soloists and composers; high school conglomerate big bands and combos; and college big bands, combos and vocal jazz ensembles through January 12, 2019. Application instructions can be found on the Monterey Jazz Festival website.

Next Generation Jazz Festival finalists are selected through recorded auditions reviewed by a panel of nationally-renowned jazz educators. In addition, special guest and international groups will also perform. In 2018, 100 groups attended the Next Generation Jazz Festival. The top groups will win cash awards and be invited to perform at the 62nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 20-22, 2019.

Online auditions for Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra will also be held through March 30, 2019. As Monterey Jazz Festival's premier touring student ensemble, this group performs at jazz venues and festivals, both domestically and internationally, and will be featured in a Sunday Arena performance at the 62nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival.

The Next Generation Jazz Festival also includes a big band composition competition, open to high school 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 on the final day of the 62nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival.

All Next Generation Jazz Festival events and activities-from the April 5 Friday night Judges Concert presented by the California Jazz Conservatory, featuring the Next Generation Jazz Festival adjudicators-through Saturday and Sunday's High School and College Competition are free of charge and open to the public. 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, as well as on spotlight stages in downtown Monterey.

About Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates the legacy of jazz, expands its boundaries, and provides opportunities to experience jazz through the creative production of performances and educational programs.