Each summer, NYO Jazz, led by artistic director Sean Jones, shines a spotlight on the depth of talent found among teen jazz players across the United States. The program offers talented young musicians ages 16–19 the opportunity to perform as cultural ambassadors for their country, sharing a uniquely American musical genre with people around the world through both national and international touring activities. The members of NYO Jazz have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as among the finest jazz musicians in the country following a rigorous and highly competitive audition process. After its Carnegie Hall debut in 2018, the ensemble embarked on its first-ever international tour with vocalist Dianne Reeves at prestigious concert halls and music festivals in London, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Kassel, and Berlin. In the summer of 2019, NYO Jazz made its debut tour to Asia, joined by vocalist Kurt Elling, with performances in Taichung, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuhai, and Hong Kong. As part of their travel schedule, NYO Jazz musicians also have opportunities to meet and collaborate with young local musicians and experience the richness of different cultures and musical traditions.

In 2021, during NYO Jazz’s residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, the band recorded its first full-length studio album under Jones’s direction, also featuring special guest saxophonist Melissa Aldana. The album includes Carnegie Hall–commissioned works for the ensemble from each year of the program, exploring themes such as social justice, resilience, and the power of music to spark joy. The album—entitled We’re Still Here—was released on June 24, 2022.

NYO Jazz builds on the success of the acclaimed National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and its sister ensemble for younger musicians, NYO2—programs created by Carnegie Hall in 2013 and 2016, respectively—to bring together the finest young classical musicians from across the country each summer for training,

performances, and international touring. Each of these prestigious national programs—free to all participants—is dedicated to the proposition that talented young musicians thrive when given the opportunity to expand their musical, social, and cultural horizons and share their artistry with audiences around the globe. Since 2013, Carnegie Hall’s national youth ensembles have performed in 15 countries on four continents, including tours to China, South Korea, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Russia, and across Europe.

To learn more about NYO Jazz, visit https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/National-Youth-Ensembles/NYO-Jazz

NYO Jazz Is Still Here

By Miles Marshall Lewis

Under the guidance of artistic director and bandleader Sean Jones, NYO Jazz flaunts some of the best and brightest jazz musicians ages 16 to 19 that the country has to offer. Continuing a lineage of musical mentorship in the tradition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers—a famed proving ground for young talent—Jones carries the torch for the same type of artistic guidance. Mastering the power of swing, NYO Jazz commands an ambitious program of classics—including Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones—in high style.

“I think the uniqueness of this program speaks to the vision that the folks at Carnegie Hall have with all of their programming,” says Jones, a celebrated trumpeter and educator who’s led the collective since its inception in 2018. “We really see NYO Jazz as a professional group. We rehearse like a professional group. We go on the road like a professional

group. Also, the students start off as colleagues and they end up as family. At the end of the 2018 tour, that was the greatest takeaway for me, that the music itself brought us together. It just solidified my space personally—not just as an educator, but as a mentor—and it’s a true honor to be involved in a program that gets it, that understands what that means.”

After its summer 2018 debut at Carnegie Hall, NYO Jazz immediately toured the world with guest vocalist Dianne Reeves, stopping at some of the most prestigious European concert halls and music festivals in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh. The following year, the big band troupe of de facto cultural ambassadors performed all over Asia—this time, with vocalist Kurt Elling—from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing to Zhuhai and Taichung.

Isolation and uncertainty have been major side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in periods of global shutdown and quarantine. We’re Still Here, the debut studio album of NYO Jazz released in June 2022, is a message of hope at this unique moment in world history, exploring material that counters and reflects on resilience in the face of struggle.

“Musicianship is one thing, but how to use the music as a tool to better the society is another,” Jones says. “So yes, we talk about the chords and the scales and all of that, but also how these chords, scales, and solos convey a certain message, and create a certain type of camaraderie. As folks like myself get a little bit older, we’re going to need to carry this tradition forward.”

NYO Jazz aims to build a discography to carry on the musical tradition Jones cites. We’re Still Here features compositions by Quincy Jones (“Pleasingly Plump”) and Duke Ellington (“Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool”), as well as contemporary Carnegie Hall commissions by Miguel Zenón (“Run with Jones”), Ayn Inserto (“Mr. Jones and Co.”), Igmar Thomas (“RPM’s”) and John Beasley (“Fête dans la tête”). The album speaks to the overall exhilarating power of music and its relationship to social justice and the buoyancy of youth.

NYO Jazz’s 2022 live repertoire also includes its share of Duke Ellington (“Take the A Train,” “Track 360”), in addition to Charles Mingus (“Fables of Faubus”), Mary Lou Williams (“Roll ’Em,” “Mary’s Idea”), and even “The Star-Spangled Banner” meshed with “Lift Every Voice and Sing”— informally known as the African American national anthem.

“I’m doing what I’m doing because I had phenomenal teachers,” Jones notes. “I had people that took the time, stayed with me after school, and held me accountable. It’s a true joy and honor to be in that position now, to be able to see those lightbulbs go off and those eyes open wide. It’s just beautiful. Jones’s own artistic history is stellar: He’s a veteran of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under Wynton Marsalis; a celebrated jazz professor; and acclaimed performer with seven solo albums, including Eternal Journey and Kaleidoscope. His passion for steering NYO Jazz towards excellence speaks to the ensemble’s inspiring talent as well as Jones’s own burning desire to spread big band jazz far and wide.

“At the end of the day, the big band is America’s orchestra,” Jones says. “It is our orchestral format and it is the most diverse ensemble on Earth. The musicians in a big band are able to improvise. They’re able to play in a chamber-group context. They’re able to play in a larger-scale orchestral context. And they are able to play the entire breadth and depth of the

American sonic experience. You don’t just hear jazz in a big band; you hear funk, you hear hip-hop, you hear country, you hear blues—you hear it all. It’s incredibly diverse, and I hope that at some point this country realizes what we have and celebrates it more. In my opinion, every major symphony orchestra should have a big band attached to it. That’s how strongly I feel about this.”

NYO Jazz

Wednesday, July 27, 7pm

The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College

Sean JonesArtistic Director, Bandleader, and Trumpet

with Special Guest Jazzmeia Horn, Vocals

NYO Jazz Is Still Here

NYO Jazz

Wednesday, July 27, 7pm

The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College

Sean JonesArtistic Director, Bandleader, and Trumpet

with Special Guest Jazzmeia Horn, Vocals

NYO Jazz Is Still Here

Sean Jones
Artistic Director, Bandleader, and Trumpet

with Special Guest
Jazzmeia Horn, Vocals

Sean Jones
Artistic Director, Bandleader, and Trumpet

with Special Guest
Jazzmeia Horn, Vocals