McCoy Mrubata will conduct the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band (SBNYJB) for 2011

Last edited: January 11, 2011

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

Mrubata conducts 2011 National Youth Jazz Band

He is one of SA's leading jazz saxophonists, and has extensive experience working with young musicians. The conductor of the Standard Bank National Schoolsâ€™ Big Band 2011 will be Fredrik NorÃ©n, Musical Director and Lead Trumpet of the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, who also teaches high school jazz musicians in Sweden.

Since its inception in 1992 the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (SBNYJF) has become one of the most significant jazz development programmes in the country, annually bringing together over 300 students and 40 teachers with nearly 60 professional jazz musicians and educators from diverse backgrounds, coming from across South Africa and the world.

As a part of the SBNYJF, top SA jazz students audition for places in the Standard Bank National Schools Big Band and the National Youth Jazz Band. These national bands are conducted annually by some of South Africaâ€™s leading jazz educators and performers, which have included Feya Faku, Darius Brubeck, Barney Rachabane, Carlo Mombelli and Shannon Mowday. These bands perform regularly at major jazz festivals around South Africa, including Grahamstown, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, and has also has performed in New York, Sweden and at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.

"The SBNYJF is intended as a national meeting point for South African musicians, jazz teachers and students, and is an excellent opportunity for networking and seeing what is happening in the jazz world, locally and internationally," said Alan Webster, Director of the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival and the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, Grahamstown.

The SBNYJF, which runs concurrently with the Standard Bank Jazz Festival during the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, lasts nearly a week and incorporates innovative jazz performances, rehearsals, workshops, lectures and an opportunity for South Africaâ€™s future jazz stars to interact personally and musically with their peers and the countryâ€™s top performers.

The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival will run from Wednesday 29 June to Tuesday 5 July at DSG in Grahamstown.

NYJF student application forms and details will also be available by the end of January on www.youthjazz.co.za

Note to editors

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival is produced by Eastern Cape Jazz Promotions.

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival is made possible with the generous support from Standard Bank as the main sponsor, as well as the following additional sponsors:
- Mmino
- ProHelvetia
- SAMRO
- Paul Bothner Music

Jazz Festival Director: Alan Webster
Production: DonnÃ© Dowlman
Sound Engineer: Les van der Veen
NYJF teaching coordinator: Brian Thusi

About the National Arts Festival: The National Arts Festival now in its 37th year has proved its sustainability and has grown to be one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa. Its objectives are to deliver excellence; encourage innovation and development in the arts by providing a platform for both established and emerging South African artists; create opportunities for collaboration with international artists; and build new audiences.