Holmes leads jazz students in gaining
recognition at international conference

he University's Studio Orchestra/Rockestra, was one of 12 university and college ensembles chosen by the Board of the International Association of Jazz Educators to perform at the 30th Annual International Association For Jazz Education's Conference, Jan. 9-12 in Toronto. It was the first collegiate studio orchestra to be selected to perform at the group's international conference.

     Competition for the invitations was intense as hundreds of collegiate groups from around the world submitted tapes for consideration.

     Approximately 7,000 music educators, students and professional musicians attended the conference, the largest of its kind in the jazz education field. UMass lecturer Adam Kolker (saxophone) and departmental assistant in Music and Dance Bob Gullotti (drums) also performed at the conference with the Deanna Witkow-ski Quartet and the Bevan Manson Trio, respectively.

     Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Ernie Watts performed with the Studio Orchestra at its concert on Friday, Jan. 10. Their repertoire included pieces composed or arranged by University faculty and students.

     "The Studio Orchestra was very well received, with many of my colleagues from other universities remarking that our performance was the highlight of the conference," said Music and Dance professor Jeffrey Holmes, the orchestra's director.

     The Studio Orchestra includes 41 music students, graduate and undergraduate, who represent all of the applied instrumental areas in the Department of Music and Dance. The department's most advanced jazz group, Jazz Ensemble I, serves as the core of the Studio Orchestra; however, to play an instrument the jazz orchestra allows for the participation of instruments that otherwise would not be found in the typical jazz ensemble -- the oboe, violin, viola, cello and bassoon, for example.

     "The Studio Orchestra provides an outstanding example of unity and commitment by our students and faculty," said Holmes.

     "The challenge for those of us used to performing in a traditional orchestra is the understanding that the style of the music in a jazz orchestra is very different," said senior Leslie Welts, who is a bassoonist. "Making the switch is hard but professor Holmes was very patient with us and got everyone 'to read off of the same page."

     "I was very proud of our students," Holmes said.