Auditions at the end of January 2024 (date TBA)
This exciting jazz education experience offers high school students a unique opportunity to join a musical community of passionate young musicians at a pivotal point in their personal development.
Students are selected by audition and have an opportunity to apply techniques they learn in rehearsals to concert performances and professional recordings. As part of the program they:
Guest artists rehearse and perform in concert with the All-Stars, and have included Victor Goines, Conrad Herwig, and Bobby Watson.
Students must be in grades 9-12 and reside within the Northwest Arkansas region. Need at least two years of experience on the instrument or comparable proficiency (exceptions may be made based on skills and experience).
Saxophones (alto, tenor, bari), trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums
Auditions for the 2023 season will be:
January 28 in Bentonville (Thaden School)
January 29 in Fayetteville (Walton Arts Center)
Sundays during the season.
A professional recording session at Crisp Studio of the ensemble's repertoire and a concert performance at Walton Arts Center. Additional performance opportunities may be possible.
Please fill out the audition Interest form below. You may also contact Jacob Christiansen, Operations Manager of the NWA Jazz Society, jacob@digjazz.com
Trombone / Tuba / Drums, University of Arkansas graduate in music performance
Guitarist, music instructor, master's in music composition from the University of Arkansas, Director of Operations and Annual Giving at SONA
Drummer, recording engineer, graduate of the University of Arkansas, has been recording and teaching professionally since the mid-'70s
Saxophonist and music professor at the University of Arkansas
Pianist, jazz instructor at the University of Arkansas, widely considered the matriarch of jazz piano in NWA
Saxophonist and music instructor at New School, professional musician