The Twin Cities Jazz Composers’ Workshop Showcase Concert has been a media magnet this week, with features from Classical Minnesota Public Radio, City Pages, and Minn. Post, along with several other radio stations.
The innovative concert, to be held at 7:30 p.m. on July 15 at Studio Z in St. Paul, includes several Gustavus ties. The performance features world premiers of six new works for jazz orchestra, one of which is “What If,” composed by Gustavus Director of Jazz Studies Dave Stamps. Also a part of the collective are 2018 Gustavus Jazz Jamboree clinician JC Sanford (the workshop’s co-founder) and 2018 Gustavus Jazz Jamboree headliner Adam Meckler.
Stamps says the performance will be unique not only because every piece on the program is a world premier, but also because the live 17-piece jazz orchestra has collaborated with the composers from the beginning. “For a market of our size there are a lot of jazz composers who have moved into the cities,” he says. “It’s so cool to see this group working together, sharing information, and starting to develop a Minnesota sound.”
The workshop began as a group of composers meeting with the goal of advancing music for jazz orchestra in the metro area and cultivating an environment where composers could get together and learn from each other. Since mid-2017 they have been workshopping with professional musicians in reading sessions and this concert is a culmination of that work. There will be a Q and A session with the composers following the concert.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased through Studio Z.