Jazz Student Selected For National All-Star Jazz Quintet
NOCCA Jazz Student Selected For Prestigious Monk Institute National Performing Arts High School All-Star Jazz Quintet
NOCCA Jazz and Benjamin Franklin High School senior Royal “Jud” Mitchell recently received the news that he has been selected to perform with the Thelonious Monk National Performing Arts High School All-Star Jazz Quintet. As the only Louisiana student participating, Jud will travel, all-expenses-paid, on a 10-day performance tour with internationally renowned jazz recording artist Antonio Hart, April 29-May 8. This year’s destinations include Washington DC and New York City.
Jud, along with his peers from across the country, will begin the tour with a performance at the US Department of Education as a nod to International Jazz Day (April 30). The group will also present peer-to-peer masterclasses in five public high schools in an effort to teach audiences about jazz and the important American values it represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, persistence, democracy, and the vital importance of listening to one another. The tour will culminate with a performance in a New York City jazz club and a recording session at the world renowned Van Gelder Studios.