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| MJF's Monterey County High School All-Star Band's Japan Tour On Sunday, July 22, the Monterey Jazz Festival's Monterey County High School All-Star Band will perform at the National Steinbeck Center in a special concert kicking off their annual performance tour of Japan. The concert begins at 7 pm at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. The MJF County High School All-Star Band will also perform at Jazz on the Plazz in Los Gatos on Wednesday, August 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The concert is free, and will take place at the Los Gatos Town Plaza, at the intersection of West Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Los Gatos. For more information, please visit www.jazzontheplazz.com. The MJF County High School All-Star Band, directed by renowned saxophonist and flautist Mr. Paul Contos, includes the best and brightest student musicians from the Festival's home county. The 21- member band features the finest young jazz musicians throughout Monterey County, including students from the Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Palma, Stevenson, and York High Schools. Members of the All-Star Band are selected by the Festival's “Traveling Clinicians” who visit Monterey schools once a month during the school year for one-on-one instruction in jazz. The July 22 National Steinbeck Center performance marks the send off for the MJF County High School All-Star Band's tour of Japan, which will take place from July 24 - August 6, 2007. On the band's Japan performance tour, the students will participate in the Festival's unique and exciting educational opportunities. In 2007, the band will join in various cultural exchange programs with Japanese students in Nanao (Monterey's sister city) at Nanao High School on July 26 and 27, culminating in a concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto on Saturday, July 28. The group then heads to Tokyo where they will perform at the B-Flat Club on August 1, with additional cultural exchange programs and clinics with students from Tomisato High School on August 3. A special joint concert with Tomisato High School and the MJF All-Star Band rounds out the trip on August 4 in Tomisato. “This tour is an amazing experience for the students of Monterey County to participate in a unique cross-cultural program,” said Dr. Rob Klevan, Education Director for the Monterey Jazz Festival. “The exchange of knowledge and the experience of the tour will have a life- long impact on the students, not only broadening their musical horizons, but also expanding their affinity and understanding of different cultures. Music is a universal language, and the tour will stay with the kids forever.” The MJF Monterey County High School All-Star Band and their international tours are supported by the Pebble Beach Company Foundation, and by the many individual contributors to the MJF Bob Phillips Monterey County High School All-Star Band Endowment Fund. The Monterey Jazz Festival and the National Steinbeck Center have become formidable presenting partners in the Monterey Bay Area. The two organizations have joined forces in recent years to produce concerts in the summer and fall seasons, including the Summer Jazz Series and the “Jazz with Steinbeck” concert prior to the Monterey Jazz Festival each year. This year, the “Jazz with Steinbeck” concert will take place on September 19, 2007 and features the vocal talents of Kim Nalley, Ed Reed and the Jazz Birds. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |