Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra: Spring 2019 Performance
Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra
Image courtesy of the artists
The spring performance by the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra will showcase a fusion of international musical styles. The group represents a melting pot of musical talent from around the world, with compositions by writers from Spain, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, Argentina, Japan, France, Switzerland, and the United States. These composers combine a wealth of global musical ideas with current and traditional jazz forms, resulting in many fresh approaches to the idiom.
The Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra
This orchestra traditionally plays a concert of original student jazz compositions each semester, representing the true essence of the jazz tradition at Berklee, to showcase the best talent from the Professional Performance and Jazz Composition departments. The band plays in the New England area at local jazz clubs and schools, as well as at festivals such as Montreal Jazz and Newport Jazz. The band performed to rave reviews at the 2000, 2004 I.A.J.E. and 2012 JEN conventions in New Orleans, New York, and Louisville. Guest artists have included Maria Schneider, Jimmy Heath, Bob Mintzer, Terence Blanchard, Sean Jones, and many others.
The Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra (formerly led by Herb Pomeroy), boasts a legendary list of alumni, including Allan Broadbent, Mike Gibbs, Ernie Watts, Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, and many more.
Greg Hopkins
Director Greg Hopkins, professor in the Harmony and Jazz Composition Department, also teaches trumpet and ensembles at Berklee. He has gone on the road with Buddy Rich as musical director and soloist, as well as played with Motown groups. He learned the business while working in the Detroit area and attending Michigan State University in the late 1960s. He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and many others. In addition to teaching at Berklee, Hopkins travels all over the world, performing, conducting, and teaching. He recently conducted and performed with the Prague Radio Big Band and the Reykjavik Jazz Orchestra, and every summer, he directs the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Jazz Program.