BCMEA Honour Jazz Band

The British Columbia Music Educators Association sponsors the Provincial Honour Jazz band each year, and this group of some of the finest high school jazz musicians in the province come together to rehearse over a total of five days, and then perform for the conference delegates and the public during the conference. This year the conference is being held in Langley on October 19th and 20th, 2007 at Langley Secondary School. This outstanding group of student musicians, over the years has had a large number of its alumni become some of BC's finest jazz performers. The group has also had many exceptional guest directors including Fred Stride, Brad Turner, Don Clarke, Paul Read (University of Toronto), Denny Christianson (Humber College, Toronto), Neil Slater (University of North Texas), Gordon Foote (McGill University, Montreal) to name a few. This year the band will be directed by Akira Sato, who is originally from Richmond. Akira is now a faculty member in Plano Texas at Southern Methodist University as well as at the University of North Texas in Denton just outside of Dallas. Akira, an outstanding trumpet player, is also known internationally for his compositions and arrangements. His music has been performed by the Maynard Ferguson All-Star Tribute Big Band, the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Ambassadors, the Army Blues, and Bobby Shew to again name just a few. The BC Honour Jazz Band will be performing at the Chandos/Pattison Theatre (10238 168th St. Surrey) on Friday night Oct. 19th, and will also be performing at the world famous Jazz Cellar (3611 West Broadway) in Vancouver on October 20th. Tickets for the Friday night concert are available at the door ($15).