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Studio Jazz Ensemble players
Auditions for the Studio Jazz/Big Band will include performance of a chromatic scale from lowest to highest and back down, an up-to-one-minute excerpt (student choice), transcription, etude, etc., that demonstrates the musician's abilities as a jazz player, sight-reading, and improvisation (optional). Sign up sheet will be on the door of MUS 35 for wind players beginning early September to audition date. There is no sign up for rhythm players, just show up at 4:10 pm, October 2 in MUS 35. Please contact Paul Harshman with questions.
Auditions:
4:10 pm to 6:00 pm
Big Band - MUSEN 346A/546A
Rehearsals: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 pm to 5:50 pm
Director Bios:
Paul Harshman is an Artist in Residence at the University of Washington where he serves as the Director of the Studio Jazz Ensemble. He is also the Band Director at Hamilton International Middle School in Seattle as well as the leader of the pH Factor Big Band.
As Director of Bands at Kentridge HS in the 1990's, Shorewood HS from 2000-2009, Lakeside School from 2008-2015 and Shoreline Community College from 2010-2015, his bands consistently received superior ratings at festivals and contests throughout the West. His jazz ensembles were considered among the finest in the nation, winning many of the most prestigious jazz festivals in the country including the Berklee College (Boston) Jazz Festival, the University of North Texas Jazz Festival, the Reno Jazz Festival, the Fullerton Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton/ University of Idaho Jazz Festival and the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival. His groups have qualified for the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City five times and in 2005 and 2008 received the Honorable Mention Award at that festival.
In 2009 the Shorewood Jazz Band won their division at the Reno Jazz Festival for the fourth consecutive year and also won a Downbeat Magazine Award for High School Jazz Band Performance. His ensembles have performed through invitation at the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, Netherlands, the 2001 MENC National Conference in Washington D.C. and the 2007 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference in New York. They have also performed with guest artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Phil Woods, Steve Houghton, George Cables, Allen Vizzutti, Marvin Stamm, Arturo O’Farrill and the University of North Texas One O’clock Jazz Lab Band.
Paul received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Central Washington University and his Master of Music Degree from Northwestern University. While at CWU, Paul was an All-American in Track and Field and still holds the school records for both the 10,000 and 3,000-meter runs.
Fred Radke joins the School of Music faculty in Fall 2011 as a part-time lecturer in the Jazz Studies program. A well-known big-band conductor and authority on big-band history, Radke directs the University of Washington's big band, the UW Studio Jazz Ensemble.
A professional musician since the age of fifteen, Radke has toured extensively around the world as leader and member of the Harry James Orchestra. He has also performed as lead trumpeter with many other well-known ensembles and performers, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Dick Jergens Orchestra, the Modernaires, Johnny Ray, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme and numerous others.
In addition to his professional career as a trumpeter, conductor, recording artist, compose/arranger, and producer, Radke is a musical clinician and educator who most recently has served as the resident instructor of Jazz Studies at North Seattle Community College.