More than 100 high school jazz musicians will celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The free musical celebration will feature student musicians from NJPAC’s TD Jazz for Teens’ Moody Jazz Orchestra and George Wein Scholars Ensemble, Jazz House Kids, Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, and Susan E. Wagner High School on Staten Island. Jazz House Kids and Susan E. Wagner High School are finalists in this year’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington competition.
Several of the JHK student musicians performing at the celebration have appeared or are scheduled to appear as Rising Stars at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! concerts held in Madison, NJ.
Pianist Ben Collins-Siegel, Maplewood/Newark Academy, (photo above) first appeared in Jersey Jazz Magazine in the May/June 2020 issue as a Rising Star after he won an Outstanding Soloist award at the annual Charles Mingus Festival and High School Competition at The New School in New York. He was part of a Newark Academy Rising Stars opening act at the June 2022 JJL and then appeared again with trumpeter Jacob Tolentino at the February 2024 JJL Collins-Siegel was just selected as a member of this year’s Carnegie NYO Jazz Orchestra. He was also named an Outstanding Soloist at this February’s Charles Mingus Festival.
Bassist Sam Konin, Lawrenceville, appeared as part of a Rising Stars quartet at the August 2022 JJL. He was named an Outstanding Soloist and Outstanding Student Arranger at this year’s Mingus Festival. Alto saxophonist Ming-Yan Qin, Pascack Valley High School, Hillsdale, (photo below), a member of the JHK Big Band that finished first at this year’s Mingus Festival, led a quartet at this month’s JJL Trombonist Alex Marichal and bassist Ansh Parihk, Mount Olive High School, will be performing at the June 8 JJL
The NJPAC concert will also include several JHK student musicians who will be performing solos at the Essentially Ellington competition. They include: tenor saxophonist Ben Sherman and pianist Zohar Cabo, New York City, tenor saxophonist Jacob Cordeni, Ridgewood, Collins-Siegel, guitarist Desmond Diehl, Basking Ridge, guitarist Jake Lopez, Wayne, and vocalist Zuri McCune, Newark. A preview of the JHK and Newark Academy performances at Essentially Ellington will appear in the May Jersey Jazz Magazine.
Host of the April 26th concert will be WBGO Radio’s Sheila Anderson. NJPAC is located at One Center St. in Newark. Tickets to the concert are free, but reservations are strongly encouraged. To register, log onto www.njpac.org.
BEN COLLINS-SIEGEL PHOTO BY MITCHELL SEIDEL
MING-YANG QIN PHOTO BY MARGUERITE LAFOUNTAINE
