For the second consecutive year, students in the jazz studies program at the University of Colorado at Boulder's College of Music have won three Down Beat Magazine Student Music Awards.
CU-Boulder Jazz Ensemble I, a big band under the direction of Professor John Davis, was honored for outstanding performance. Pianist Andy Nevala won for his unique arrangement of the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves," and vibraphonist Greg Harris was cited for outstanding performance on his own original composition, "Switch." Nevala and Harris are students of Assistant Professor Chip Stephens.
"Receiving three awards in each of the past two years is rather remarkable, and I feel it reflects a sustained level of high quality in the teaching being done in the jazz program, and in the students we are attracting," said Davis, who also serves as jazz studies program director.
"To win one Down Beat Student Music Award is significant, but to win six in the last two years is a major achievement when one considers that we are competing against other prestigious universities like The Eastman School of Music, North Texas State and The University of Miami, to name a few," Stephens said.
Last year, CU-Boulder student musicians won national recognition in three categories of Down Beat's annual competition: outstanding group performance in the instrumental jazz category, outstanding individual performance by a jazz instrumentalist and outstanding individual performance of an original composition.
"Many of our students have displayed a level of growth, discipline and excellence that truly makes them deserving of these awards," Stephens said. "Andy Nevala won a Down Beat Award last year for an original composition of his and has just recently secured a position in the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra as their new pianist."
The CU-Boulder Jazz program currently has three students touring internationally as members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra: Nevala, alto saxophonist Serafin Sanchez and trombonist Joshua Favors.
"We couldn't be more proud of the accomplishments of many of our students," Stephens said. "They're out there doing what they came to school to learn how to do and that's what it's all about."
The award-winning CU-Boulder jazz studies program features top-notch instructors including Davis, Stephens, bassist Paul Erhard, saxophonist Tom Myer, pianist and arranger Michael Pagan, trumpeter Terry Sawchuk and drummer/vibraphonist Douglas Walter. For more information about the CU-Boulder Jazz Studies department, go to their Web site at .
Down Beat magazine has chronicled the history of jazz and blues music since 1934. Each year it accepts taped submissions from scholastic and collegiate musicians for consideration in the student awards competition. The awards are widely considered to be the most prestigious national recognition for jazz students, and a number of winners have gone on to become stars of the international jazz community.
For more information on Down Beat Magazine, visit .