Javier Arau, JC Sanford & Michael Webster

Teaches at New York Jazz Academy

Instructor -- Javier Arau Javier Arau is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and educator. The front cover artist on the July 2009 issue Saxophone Journal, he has received four Down Beat Magazine Awards for performance, composition, and arranging, and has received national awards and recognition from ASCAP, BMI, and MENC, among others. He studied classical saxophone with Steven Jordheim and jazz saxophone with Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone. An innovator in the field of jazz education, Javier's research and development has been recognized by leading music institutions worldwide. He has taught at New England Conservatory of Music and Lawrence University and teaches private lessons to musicians of all ages in New York City. Javier is the author of several influential music texts and articles, and he has been published by Jazz Educators Journal, UNC Jazz Press, and Dorn Publications. He has taught jazz for over 17 years. Instructor -- JC Sanford Trombonist/composer/conductor JC Sanford is a musician of rare breadth, deeply rooted in the traditions of Jazz and Classical music, yet constantly pushing at their boundaries. His collaboration with fellow composer David Schumacher and their jazz orchestra Sound Assembly yielded the CD Edge of the Mind, which received many accolades including CD Baby’s Top 10 Jazz Records of 2009. JC now leads his own unique 15-piece ensemble which fuses his jazz, classical, and world music sensibilities. A founding member of the composers' federation Pulse, he has collaborated with a wide array of artists including singer-songwriter Joy Askew, Japanese koto player Yumi Kurosawa, and Take Dance Company. Instructor -- Michael Webster Saxophonist Michael Webster's compositions have been played by Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell and Arturo O'Farrill at Birdland and by John Benitez at the Blue Note in New York City. In March 2008, Michael conducted the Grammy winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space in Manhattan, where they premiered his original commissioned composition "Mombogro". He returned to lead the ALJO's performance of two commissioned arrangements in October 2008 featuring guitarist/composer Michele Ramo. Michael appears regularly with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada as an orchestral saxophonist, and has been a featured soloist in this capacity with John Pizzarelli, Doc Severinsen, Barbara Cooke, Lou Rawls, Ian Tyson, Glen Campbell & Carol Welsman.