SUU High School Jazz Festival features Jeffry Eckels, Stephen Anderson
By Ashley H Pollock
Southern Utah University’s music department will host the fifth annual SUU High School Jazz Festival concert Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Heritage Center Theater in Cedar City. This concert will feature renowned pianist Stephen Anderson, bassist Jeffry Eckels, and the SUU Jazz Ensemble. The event is free and open to the public.
The SUU High School Jazz Festival is an education-based event with the intent of providing high schools the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from qualified jazz adjudicators. This is not a competitive event; however, recognition will be given to outstanding soloists and outstanding sections. Additionally, students can learn firsthand from internationally recognized artists in a clinic format. This one-day event includes adjudicated high school performances, a midday clinic, and a late afternoon concert.
Stephen Anderson is a critically acclaimed composer and pianist. Four of Anderson’s recordings have appeared on the Grammy Awards ballots representing Summit Records: “Nation Degeneration” (53rd), “Believe” (56th), “360˚ Jazz Initiative, Distracted Society” (58th), and “The Dominican Jazz Project” (59th). His work with the Dominican Jazz Project and Juan Alamo’s Marimjazzia Latin jazz ensembles have led him to perform at multiple festivals in the Caribbean since 2014. As a composer, his works have been performed by ensembles throughout the United States, including the West Point Military Academy Band, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, the Montclair State Wind Symphony, the Crested Butte Chamber Orchestra, and the MIT Concert Band. Anderson teaches composition and jazz studies at the University of North Carolina and is director of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop.
Jeffry Eckels is in high demand as a bassist and has substantial performing credits. Eckels has a doctorate degree in music from the University of North Texas where he performed with the renowned 1 O’clock Lab Band and has served as adjunct jazz bass faculty. He received a master’s degree in bass performance from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was the head of the bass and ear training department at the Universidad de San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Eckels later taught bass at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
For more information about the SUU High School Jazz Festival, please visit suu.edu/pva/music/jazzfestival.html.
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