Madison College Community Big Band & Jazz Combo, UW Jazz Orchestra, Mount Horeb High School Tuesday Jazz Ensemble

"Big Band Music of Today: Keeping the Tradition Alive"

Saturday, April 18.

7:30pm

Mitby Theater, Madison Area Technical College Truax Campus

Featuring a world premiere by composer Ayn Inserto, and music by Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Sturm and Paul Dietrich.

Plus special guest trumpet player, Jeff Claassen

Ensembles: Madison College Big Band and Jazz Combo, UW Jazz Orchestra, and Mount Horeb High School's Tuesday Jazz.

Admission: Free.

With the support of Madison Area Technical College, Evjue Foundation, and Madison Jazz Society, groundbreaking jazz composer Ayn Inserto and the lead trumpet player of the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Claassen, will be in Madison to premiere Ayn's "Ze Teach and Me", a two-part piece commissioned by Madison College Big Band (MCBB). During their stay in Madison, Ayn and Jeff will be sharing their expertise and passion for today's jazz big band music with the area's high school students, college students, and the community at large.

MCBB is a unique 25 piece jazz big band that brings together people in all different periods of their life, from Madison College students fresh out of high school to retirees. This ensemble is one of many arts opportunities that Madison College provides, helping to make Madison and the surrounding area the culturally rich community that it is. The Big Band meets Thursday evenings where it explores many periods of music for jazz big band and prepares for performances that are held throughout the year. These performances range from community fundraisers at the Goodman Community Center to graduation ceremonies at Madison College.

MCBB has commissioned composer Ayn Inserto to write a piece of music dedicated to her late mentor, Bob Brookmeyer. Ms. Inserto will be directing MCBB in the world premiere of "Ze Teach and Me" on Saturday, April 18 at 7:30pm in Madison College's Mitby Theater. The entire performance will feature "Big Band Music of Today." MCBB will share the stage with University of Wisconsin-Madison's Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Johannes Wallmann, and a local high school jazz ensemble. During Ayn's and Jeff's visit to Madison (April 15 - April 19) they will be giving master-classes, directing rehearsals, and giving one-on-one lessons at Madison College, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Mount Horeb High School.

Associate Professor of Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music, Ayn Inserto is emerging as one of the preeminent voices of her generation. Ayn's music has been performed throughout the world, including at the International Association for Jazz Education Conference, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, and New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. Her third album, Home Away From Home, recorded by the Colours Jazz Orchestra in Fano, Italy was released May 2, 2014 in Europe and will soon be released in the USA.

Jazz trumpeter, director, composer, and educator Jeff Claassen is lead trumpet in the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra. Jeff has performed with Paquito D'Rivera as well as Bob Brookmeyer's New Art Orchestra. He is the director of Berklee College of Music's "5 Week Big Band" where he also teaches classes ranging from Music Theory to the Music of Duke Ellington.

Having Ayn Inserto and Jeff Claassen in Madison to share their wealth of knowledge of today's jazz will inspire the area's rich music community to embrace the big band repertoire of today. If we do not seek out and perform the music that has been written in the last 20 years and commission talented young composers to write for our ensembles, the connection to yesterday's jazz will be forever lost.