THE VAIL JAZZ FOUNDATION PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE 2005 VAIL JAZZ WORKSHOP SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

June 28, 2005 – Vail, CO – The Vail Jazz Foundation (VJF) is pleased to announce the 2005 Vail Jazz Workshop Scholarship winners selected from throughout the United States and Canada.

Since 1996, the VJF has been organizing the Vail Jazz Workshop (VJW) in conjunction with the annual Vail Jazz Festival in order to assist in the development of the next generation of jazz musicians. To date, 106 students have participated in the workshop and for the first time ever, this year’s Labor Day Weekend Party will include the VJF Alumni Band.

Twelve gifted, dedicated and deserving high school musicians have been chosen to receive scholarships from the VJF and an opportunity to learn from the jazz greats in residence. The all-star faculty teaches and mentors the Workshop students and many of the Workshop’s young alumni have gone on to win awards, honors and musical scholarships to leading colleges and universities around the country.

John Clayton, noted jazz educator, bass virtuoso and co-leader of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Clayton Brothers Quartet is the director of the Workshop. Joining him as instructors are Jeff Clayton, saxes and woodwinds; Terell Stafford, trumpet; Bill Cunliffe, piano; and Lewis Nash, drums. We are deeply indebted to this all-star faculty for its extraordinary generosity in helping continue a tradition that has established the VJF Workshop as one of our nation’s leading jazz education programs.

The Workshop is a highly structured program that requires dedication and commitment to hard work, includes jazz theory, group and private lessons and practice in jazz improvisation and ensemble playing. The teaching philosophy of the Workshop stresses learning by transcribing the performances of the masters in order to understand their techniques so that students can develop their own technique and voice. In addition to their musical instruction and performances, hiking, chair lift rides, picnics and other outdoor outings are organized so the students have an opportunity to take advantage of the unique activities that the Vail Valley has to offer. It is the VJF’s goal that the Workshop provides students with the highest level of musical instruction in a unique and enjoyable environment that combines music with the beauty and grandeur of nature.

Each year Workshop students are featured performers, along with their instructors, at the annual Labor Day Weekend Party. Their attendance at the Party not only provides them with multiple performance opportunities but the opportunity to see, hear and interact with the world renowned jazz artists who perform at the Party. This unique, intensive music residency is one of the country’s leading jazz education programs. The following is a list of the 10 th Annual Vail Jazz Workshop Scholarship recipients:

The 2005 Vail Jazz Workshop Scholarship recipients will perform as the Vail Jazz All-Stars at the following times during the 11th Annual Vail Jazz Festival:

The 11th Annual Vail Jazz Festival is sponsored by Alpine Bank, BBE Sound, Inc., City Market/The Kroger Foundation, Colorado Council on the Arts, Colorado Mountain Express - Official Transportation Provider, Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, KUVO 89.3 FM, KVBA TV8, National Endowment for the Arts, PRIMA, The Zephyr – KZYR 97.7 FM, Town of Vail, Vail Daily, and Yamaha.

The festival is presented by the Vail Jazz Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization (tax exempt under Sec. 501(c)(3) IRC) dedicated to the education and perpetuation of jazz.

For more information, contact:

Christine Carlson

The Vail Jazz Foundation

P.O. Box 3035 , Vail, CO 81658

1-888-VAILJAM (1-888-824-5526)

email: vjf@vailjazz.org website: www.vailjazz.org