[Dixielandjazz] More On STJS Youth Festival

[Robert S. Ringwald]

>From the STJS web site, http://www.sacjazz.org

Trad Jazz Youth Band Festival
For immediate release
March 1, 2005

For additional information, contact:
Yvonne Au, (916) 481-5403

Sacramento to Host Youth Band Festival
(Sacramento
) - The Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society (STJS) and the Jazz Studies 
Program at
California State University
, Sacramento (CSUS), have announced plans for a Trad Jazz Youth Band 
Festival (TJYBF),
to be held in
Sacramento in February, 2006.
The festival is believed to be the first adjudicated student festival for 
Dixieland
or traditional jazz music, according to its organizers.
"The ultimate goal of the event is to encourage school band directors to 
incorporate
traditional jazz in their music curricula," said Bob Williams, 
Co-Chairperson of
the STJS Jazz Education Committee. "But the festival will also welcome jazz 
club-sponsored
or independent youth bands." To qualify, an ensemble must have ten or fewer 
members,
all of whom are age 21 or younger, or enrolled in college.
Currently there are several popular student jazz festivals on the West Coast 
that
run according to guidelines of the International Association for Jazz 
Education.
They include the Folsom and Reno Jazz Festivals and the Next Generation Jazz 
Festival
in
Monterey
. Jazz ensembles from junior high, high school, and colleges have the unique 
opportunity
to perform and to receive critique and awards, listen to their peers from 
other schools,
and frequently see professional artists perform as well. These festivals are 
often
the highlight of the year for many jazz bands. However, TJYBF sponsors say 
there
has never been an adjudicated student festival for traditional jazz music.
The combo fee of $100 per small ensemble includes a director's festival pass 
with
hosted luncheon by STJS for band directors, use of warm-up room prior to 
performance,
adjudicated performance onstage before a live audience, feedback clinic with 
written
forms and audio tape, entry into competitive or non-competitive divisions, 
presentation
on the different styles of trad jazz, instrumental and vocal clinics, music 
exhibits,
evening awards showcase with guest artist Bob Draga, and complimentary 
admission
for each musician and one parent to the STJS Jazz Sunday session the 
following afternoon
at the nearby Dante Club.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, February 11, 2006
 on the CSUS campus. Tickets will be priced at $10 for all-events festival 
passes
or $8 for tickets to the evening concert only.
For additional festival information, contact
yvonnea1 at surewest.net
 or follow the link from
www.sacjazz.org