Award-winning composer/alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa will be the special guest at this year’s Texas All-Star Jazz Camp. The camp, which features free nightly concerts, is from Sunday-Friday, July 19-24 at the Collin College – Spring Creek Campus, 2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway in Plano.
Hailed by the New York Times as possessing “a roving intellect and a bladelike articulation,” Mahanthappa has been awarded a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum.
Downbeat’s International Critics Polls, JazzTimes’ Critics Polls and the Jazz Journalists’ Association have named him alto saxophonist of the year numerous times.
The Texas All-Star Jazz Camp combines more than 100 students with the faculty big band, featuring professional jazz artists who have performed with jazz legends such as Count Basie, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich.
Nightly concerts featuring the camp faculty big band will be presented free to the public at 7:30 p.m, July 20-23. The student big bands will perform on Friday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. All concerts are in the John Anthony Theatre on the Spring Creek Campus.
Limited camper spots are still available for students age 13 and up with at least one year of experience on their instruments. Students who play trumpet, trombone, saxophones, bass, piano, guitar and drums are encouraged to apply.
Tuition and fees for campers range from $265-$310.
