Over Fifty Groups From Four Continents Perform Throughout The Weekend of April 3 - 6 2008

April 9, 2008; Monterey, CA; The Monterey Jazz Festival is proud to announce the results of the 4th Annual Next Generation Festival, incorporating MJF's 38th Annual National High School Jazz Competition. In the High School Big Band category, top honors went to Buchanan High School “A” (Clovis, CA), directed by Paul Lucckesi. The runner-up was Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA), directed by Josh Murray. Third place went to the Las Vegas Academy (Las Vegas, NV), directed by Patrick Bowen.

For a complete list of top ensembles, outstanding soloists and scholarship recipients, please visit www.montereyjazzfestival.org.

Appearing at the 51st Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2008 in the Night Club will be the Acalanes High School Combo, the Folsom High School Jazz Choir and Los Angeles High School for the Arts Vocal Ensemble; the Rio Americano, Buchanan and Las Vegas Academy High School Big Bands; the Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra and the CSU Northridge big band. The Buchanan High School Big Band will appear on the Jimmy Lyons Stage in the Arena to open the Sunday show on September 21, 2008.

Congratulations Levi Saelua!

Levi's jazz band arrangement of Spyro Gyra's "Monsoon" (Jay Beckenstein) won national honors in DownBeat Magazine's 30th Annual Student Music Awards, which was announced in the June 2007 issue. The Monterey Jazz Festival announced Levi as the winner of the Next Generation Festival's Big Band Composition Competition. His winning composition, "Spectrum", will be given its MJF premiere on the Arena/Lyons Stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival by the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra on Sunday September 23. Levi will also receive a $1000 prize and new music writing software from Sibelius.

Visit Music Downloads to listen to both songs performed by the 2007 Rio Americano AM Jazz Band.

Rio Americano's AM, PM, FM, Combo 1 and Combo 2 Jazz Bands competed with more than 330 middle, high school and college groups participating in the 45th annual University of Nevada, Reno Jazz Festival April 26-28.

Directed by Craig Faniani and Josh Murray, the bands performed in the competition, which is one of the oldest and largest educational festivals in the west. Rio Combo 1 placed 4th in the AAA High School Combo Division, FM Jazz Band placed 5th in the Apprentice II High School Band Division, and PM Jazz Band placed 3rd in the Appentice I High School Band Division. AM Jazz Band took the highest honors, placing 1st in the AA High School Band Division and was highlighted in the showcase performance Saturday evening.

World-class jazz artists, music educators and thousands of jazz students from throughout the west spend three days immersed in live-jazz performance, competitions and clinics. This year's evening concerts featured jazz superstars including trumpeter Randy Becker and guitarist John Scofield with his trio. The festival closed Saturday evening with the Festival Showcase and Awards Ceremony in the university's Lawlor Events Center, which included encore performances by some of the best groups and soloists at the festival. For more information visit: www.unr.edu/rjf.