Big band boast

This Saturday, the members of Denison’s Jazz Ensemble will strut their musical prowess in front of educators and students from all across Ohio. Selected from more than 120 submissions, the group will play a number of big band era tunes at the annual Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) Professional Development Conference.

Directed by Pete Mills, the ensemble will be accompanied by guest violin soloist and Associate Professor of Music Andy Carlson. He will join the ensemble for a number of arrangements including Kansas City Kitty (featured in the rehearsal video above), a piece that “bridges the gap between bluegrass, jazz, swing and folk music of Americana.”

For Mills, the opportunity to perform in front of so many of Ohio’s music educators is an honor.

“It’s an opportunity for us to showcase our music department and all the amazing things that happen here,” he explained. ” It’s huge because our students are great artists but they are also incredible scholars.”

The ensemble performs at 8 a.m., on Saturday, February 18, in the Columbus Crown Plaza Hotel, next to the convention center.