Published January 31, 2025

Jazz in the Schools 2025 – You Can’t Beat This!

by Chuck Reider

One of my favorite days of the year is the Reno Jazz Orchestra’s (RJO) Jazz in the Schools event. An all-day event of student jazz bands performing at UNR and this year an evening concert features the RJO and our guest artist Aaron Serfaty.  It thrills me to see the next generation of jazz musicians honing their craft. This, our 25^th year, featuring 20 middle and high school jazz bands from our community as well as the Fernley and Tahoe High Schools.  

 

The day begins at 8:30am in both UNR’s Nightingale and Hall concert halls at the University of Nevada, Reno (our co-sponsor) and continues through 5pm. Each band performs for 20 minutes and then receives a 25-minute clinic from nationally recognized jazz clinicians. Here is a shout out to Nichole Heglund, our education director, and her husband Andy who organized the event. Their passion and commitment to music education are the driving forces that make this such a fantastic event. They have recruited five outstanding clinicians (see the link below for more info) including our featured guest artist Aaron Serfaty. If you wish to learn more about Latin percussion, Serfaty will hold a clinic in Hall Hall at 11:30am. At 12:30pm, the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO) will perform in Nightingale Hall. Following RYJO the RJO quintet will perform with Serfaty and invite students to join on stage for an immersive experience.  The student performances end with a jam session at The Laughing Planet at 5:15pm hosted by the RJO’s compadres in jazz, For the Love of Jazz (FTLOJ).

All the day’s events are free for the public to attend and the schools to participate. This is where I give a shout out to all our sponsors starting with our private donors (thank you CJ Walters), the City of Reno, the Nevada Arts Council, The Redfield Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada. We greatly appreciate all our sponsors allowing the RJO to host this event. 

Being a huge fan of Latin jazz, I look forward to the 7:30 evening concert “You Can’t Beat This” featuring percussionist Aaron Serfaty. This extraordinary concert will present the fusion of traditional Venezuelan music and the improvisational spirit of big band jazz. This performance promises to be an unforgettable celebration of music and culture with Serfaty and the Reno Jazz Orchestra. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Serfaty quickly became a virtuoso drummer and percussionist at a very early age. He has an accomplished career as a session and touring drummer with Venezuelan artists Franco De Vita, Soledad Bravo, and El Trabuco Venezolano. Serfaty has played, toured, and/or recorded with the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, Roberta Gambarini, Kristin Korb, Cantina de Luna/Otmaro Ruiz’s Lado B, Sérgio Mendes, and Dori Caymmi among many others. He is also an instructor at the University of Southern California whom RJO music director, Dr. Greg Johnson, met and studied with. Johnson says Serfaty was a mentor to him as Miles Davis mentored the young Herbie Hancock by helping in bringing out all his potential.

Those who have seen Johnson direct the RJO know that he is a “triple threat.” A great arranger, music director, and saxophonist with a gift to engage the audience. As a saxophonist, Johnson has appeared in concert and on over 40 mainstream recordings with jazz legends Curtis Fuller, Billy Taylor, Bob Mintzer, and many more and performed with notable Pop and Rock acts such as Robin Thicke, Barry Manilow, and The Spinners at some of the biggest venues and festivals in the world. His latest album The Naked Truth highlights his composing skills. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Sacramento State and previously held positions at USC and the California State University Stanislaus.

February 8, 2025 is a big day for jazz in Reno so come and root for your favorite student jazz band and later on enjoy a great evening of Latin jazz!

Purchase tickets for the evening concert
https://renojazzorchestra.org/gigs.html

Learn more about the clinicians:
https://renojazzorchestra.org/education/jazz_schools_clinicians.html

See the schedule of school performances
https://renojazzorchestra.org/education/jazz_schools_schedule.html

Check out our executive director’s interview on KOLO
https://renojazzorchestra.org/gigs.html

Chuck Reider is the the President of the Reno Jazz Orchestra

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