Jazz Festival: Jazz Ensembles I & II

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 - PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

8:30 a.m. 
Shakopee High School
Ben Hoehn, director

9:00 a.m.
Rosemount High School Jazz I
Scott Palmer, director

9:30 a.m.
Rosemount High School Jazz II
Taylor Eliason, director

10:00 a.m.
Rosemount High School Jazz III
Max Ellison, director

10:30 a.m.
Hidden Oaks Middle School
Matt Knudson, director

2:00 p.m.
Twin Oaks Middle School
Matt Knudson, director

2:30 p.m.
Eden Prairie High School Jazz II
Michael Okwabi, director

3:00 p.m.
Two Rivers High School
Erik Christianson, director

3:30 p.m.
Eden Prairie High School Jazz I
Michael Okwabi, director

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 - FEATURE CONCERT

University of Minnesota Jazz Ensemble II

Dean Sorenson
Rain Delay

Horace Silver | arr. Tom Kubis
Song for my Father 

Jazz Ensemble II with Gary Smulyan

Jim Cifelli
The Messenger

Kenny Garrett | arr. Steve Shanley
Sing A Song of Song 

Matt Harris
Los Brujos de Cisano 

University of Minnesota Jazz Ensemble I

Atsushi Kitajoh | arr. Spencer Ainza
It’s Going Down Now

Gordon Goodwin
Hunting Wabbits

Jazz Ensemble I with Gary Smulyan

Phil Woods | arr. Dean Sorenson
My Man Benny

Oliver Nelson
Black Brown and Beautiful

Chick Corea | arr. Michael Philip Mossman
La Fiesta

Dave Pietro is a renowned saxophonist, composer, and educator based in New York City since 1987. He has performed in over 30 countries and is a longtime member of the GRAMMY®-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, as well as GRAMMY®-nominated groups Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and the Gil Evans Project. From 1994–2016, he played lead alto sax with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra.

Pietro has worked with numerous jazz greats and legends across genres, including Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, Harry Connick Jr., Ray Charles, and David Bowie. As a leader, he has released 11 albums. His recent projects Satori (2025) and The Talisman (2024, SteepleChase) have received critical acclaim for their artistry and innovation.

Past albums like Hypersphere, New Road: Iowa Memoirs, and Embrace: Impressions of Brazil have been lauded for their creativity and emotional depth. His Stevie Wonder tribute album Standard Wonder was named one of the top jazz albums of 2001.

Pietro holds degrees from North Texas State University and NYU, where he is currently Director of Jazz Studies. A passionate educator, he has given workshops worldwide and is an artist for D’Addario, Conn-Selmer, and R.S. Berkeley.

Dean Sorenson is associate professor and director of jazz studies at the University of Minnesota as well as a prolific and highly sought-after composer, arranger, trombonist, educator, and clinician. Sorenson’s latest project is Colors of the Soul, a CD of original music for sextet. His most recent book is First Place for Jazz, a new and innovative method for beginning jazz players published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company. He is frequently featured at festivals and conventions around the country and abroad, and maintains a full schedule of concert and recording dates as a Yamaha performing artist. For more information please visit www.deansorensonmusic.com.

Kyle Motl is Assistant Professor Double Bass and Contemporary Instrumental Performance at the University of Minnesota and is a bassist, composer, and improviser described as “spectacularly adventurous and dynamic,” whose playing is noted for both “iridescent delicacy as well as abrasive force” (The Wire). A frequent soloist, his performances “promise to change us by revealing things we could never have imagined” (Free Jazz Collective). Kyle works regularly with both emerging and established composers and champions new works for the bass. He has performed with ensembles including International Contemporary Ensemble and Ghost Ensemble. His 2022 solo record, Hydra Nightingale, consists of solo premieres by Caroline Louise Miller, Anqi Liu, Jessie Cox, and Asher Tobin Chodos. Kyle holds a DMA from UC San Diego, where he studied with Mark Dresser and Anthony Davis, an MM from Florida International University, and a BM from Florida Atlantic University. His book, Bells Plucked From Air, sheds light on harmonic techniques for the double bass.