Ensembles
Jazz Combo
The Jazz Combo is a university ensemble dedicated to the exploration of jazz improvisation in a small group setting. Students in the Jazz Combo are members of the university community who perform on a regular basis on campus as well as in professional engagements in the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City metro area.
Jazz Orchestra
The Jazz Orchestra is ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½'s premiere ensemble dedicated to the big band jazz tradition including Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Bob Brookmeyer and many others, in which students learn and perfect the techniques of playing in a large jazz ensemble. Auditions for jazz groups are open to all ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ students regardless of major. Improvisation experience is not required to audition.
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Ensemble Placement Auditions
ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Major Ensembles (Orchestra, Wind Bands, Choirs, Jazz) are open to music majors and non-major students alike.Β
Ensemble placement is dependent upon the results of ensemble placement auditions, which occur each semester in August and January. Please visit the Ensemble Placement page for more info or contact the Performance Manager, Francisco Venegas ([email protected]).
Upcoming Concerts
Jazz Band Vocal Concert - 7:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall
Free admission.
Jazz Band Concert - 7:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall
Free admission.
Jazz Band Vocal Concert - 7:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall
Free admission.
Jazz Band Concert - 7:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall
Free admission.
Jazz Faculty
Vince Norman, the son of big band saxophonist Ray Norman who played with the bands of Claude Thornhill and Charlie Barnett and with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, has been exposed to music all his life. First introduced to jazz by his Junior High band director, Paul Brewer, Vince was offered his first gig with the Rick Swyden Big Band while still in high school and has been going non-stop ever since.
Originally from Del City, ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½, Vince spent a large portion of his professional career in the Washington DC area both as a freelance musician and as a member of The U.S. Army Field Band, where he first served as a saxophonist with βThe Jazz Ambassadorsβ and later as a member of the arranging staff. Vince has played concert tours in Europe, Japan, India, Mexico and Canada and has played in all 50 states except Alaska. He has performed with such notables as Arturo Sandoval, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Dave Samuels, Paquito de Rivera, Butch Miles, Marvin Hamlisch, Toots Thielmans, Marvin Stamm, Jamey Aebersold, Hal Linden, Bill Watrous, The Four Tops, The Temptations and Joan Rivers. He has also performed with the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and with the Cincinnati Pops at several venues including Carnegie Hall.
Vince has written numerous pieces for jazz ensemble as well as several orchestral pops commissions for the internationally known Capitol Saxophone Quartet. He performs extensively in the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City area on saxophone and keyboards as well as playing either keyboards or drums at church each week. Vince also works as the assistant band director at Del City High School and as the jazz ensemble director at ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University.
Vince has released two CDs on OA2 Records as co-leader of the Vince Norman/Joe McCarthy Big Band, "Words Cannot Express" and "Bright Future". He has also written for, performed, and recorded with the Latin jazz group, Afro Bop Alliance with which he played on the 51st Grammy Award Nominated and 9th Latin Grammy Award winning collaboration with Dave Samuels' Caribbean Jazz Project simply entitled "Afro Bop Alliance."
βWaltz of the Flowersβ from his most recent arranging collaboration with Afro Bop, βThe Pan American Nutcracker Suite,β was nominated for the 2023 Latin Grammy for best arrangement. Vinceβs releases as a leader, βSphericalityβ and βVinnyβs Garage,β are available through all the main streaming services. Vince is a Cannonball Musical Instruments endorsing artist.
Tyler Shepherd has performed, recorded, and toured across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. Formerly Principal Double Bass of the Welsh National Opera, he has appeared as Principal Bass with many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London), Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester (Norway), BBC Scottish Symphony and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Tyler has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and extensively with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Tyler served two seasons as Principal Bass of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera after his studies at Boston University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. His primary teachers were Edwin Barker, Dennis Roy, and Steve Zeserman. During his time in Boston, he was a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Tanglewood Music Center fellow for two summers, where he was awarded the Maurice Schwartz Prize.
As a teacher he has been faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Young Strings program. He has appeared worldwide in masterΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, Trinity-Laban Conservatoire of Music and Drama, as well as the University of Colorado Boulder, Texas Christian University, and James Madison University. Tyler was also a tutor at the Britten-Pears Festival Orchestra in Snape, England for two summers. His students have had successful careers, regularly performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, as well as in folk, musical theater, and jazz groups.
His recent chamber engagements include the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival in Northern England, the Fishguard Chamber Music Festival of Wales, and the Penarth Chamber Music Festival. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony and the City of Cardiff Symphony Orchestra. Tyler has performed with artists such as Tan Dun, Fabio Luisi, Ann-Sophie Mutter, Bernard Haitink, Leonidas Kavakos, Bryn Terfel, Vadim Repin, RenΓ©e Fleming, Herbert Blomstedt, Midori, Lothar Koenigs, Thomas Hampson, Carlo Rizzi, Rinaldo Alessandrini, and Emanuel Ax.
Additionally, Tyler performs regularly on the bass guitar with the indie rock group The She, and as a frequent performer with Broadway Dallas. His wife is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and they have two daughters and two dogs.
