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This page will be periodically updated with news about students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Jazz Studies program. For more information about our division, use the menu links above.
Current members of the Jazz Studies community recieve daily news and updates through the division's standing Canvas page.
UNT Assistant Professor for Jazz Strings Scott Tixier was recently profiled by Alex Temblador in the April edition of D Magazine , one of the region's premier cultural publications. In the feature, Prof. Tixier described his winding route to Denton by way of New York and Parisian conservatories. He reflects on his opportunities to continue recording during the pandemic as well as his relationship to jazz music as a Black man and French immigrant.
Image: Scott Tixier at Modern Electric Sound Recorders studio in Dallas. Credit: Elizabeth Lavin
In speaking about his recent livestreamed performance at Dallas' Moody Hall as part of the Chamber Music International Festival, Prof. Tixier expressed his joy at performing even in these strange times:
“Moody Hall was incredibly necessary for my soul,” he says. “I didn’t realize how much I needed it. The energy from being onstage again defined the momentum in my life. More than 1,000 people have tuned in so far, and even if I couldn’t see them, I somehow could feel them. Playing in this empty hall was dramatic and grave but also joyful, electric, and exhilarating."
The division of Jazz Studies is proud to announce that Kimberly Hannon Teal begins her tenure at UNT in August of 2021 as Assistant Professor of Jazz History and Research. Her research addresses contemporary jazz and she is interested in how live performance contexts contribute to musical experiences and meaning. She holds a PhD in historical musicology from the Eastman School of Music, where she also taught music history and served as the Director of Graduate Advising. Her writing can be found in American Music, Jazz Perspectives, The Journal of the Society for American Music, and Jazz Research Journal. She comes to UNT from the University of Arkansas.
Image (NewMusicBox): the 2021 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients
Three members of the North Texas Jazz family are among the recipients of the ASCAP Foundation's 2021 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. Via NewMusicBox:
The ASCAP Foundation has announced the 20 recipients of the 2021 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards plus an additional 6 composers who received honorable mention. Established in 2002, the program recognizes gifted young jazz composers up to the age of 30. Through a partnership with the Newport Festival Foundation, one of this year’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards recipients will be featured at the Newport Jazz Festival, conditions permitting. The awards carry the name of the trumpeter, composer and bandleader Herb Alpert in recognition of The Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to the program. Additional funding for the program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund. The recipients, who receive cash awards, are selected through a juried national competition. The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2021 competition were Ambrose Akinmusire, Wycliffe Gordon and Jihye Lee.
Image: Ariel Sha Glassman
Ariel Sha Glassman, current MM composition and arranging student and director of the Five O'Clock Lab Band, won for her big band chart "Captain Iso".
Image: Yu Nishiyama
Yu Nishiyama (BM'17) won for her piece "Honorary Whites" for 17-piece big band.
Image: Courtney Wright
Courtney Wright, former MM composition and arranging student and director of the Seven O'Clock Lab Band, won for her big band chart "Like Thad".
We are extremely proud of each of these amazing writers!
Current UNT saxophonists Gus Arnold (BM'19) and Ian Weidmann have come in first and second place respectively in the 2021 Region IV Jazz Saxophone competition of the North American Saxophone Alliance.
Gus Arnold and Ian Weidmann both also hold the lead alto saxophone chairs in the One and Two O'Clock Lab Bands respectively, as well.
Congrats!
Image: Gus Arnold and Ian Weidmann in performance
Image: ITA announcement on Facebook.
The U-Tubes Jazz Trombone Ensemble has won the 2021 Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition from the International Trombone Association (ITA). The ensemble, under the direction of graduate teaching assistant Jack Courtright and sponsored by Prof. Nick Finzer, is comprised of an octet of tenor and bass trombonists with a rhythm section.
Image: The U-Tubes performing a concert in Lab West on March 2, 2021.
Other UNT wins from this year's competition are:
University of North Texas Trombone Consortium, Steve Menard and Natalie Mannix, directors
Emory Remington Trombone Choir Competition
Jack Courtright, finalist; Jackson Churchill, first alternate
JJ Johnson Jazz Trombone Competition (ages 25 and under)
Theodore Van Winkle, honorable mention
Robert Marsteller Tenor Trombone Competition (ages 22 and under)
Jackson Churchill, second alternate
Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition (ages 22 and under)
