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In a span of two decades, 11 recordings and countless stage performances, vocalist René Marie has cemented her reputation as not only a singer but also a composer, arranger, theatrical performer, and teacher. Guided and tempered by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and other leading ladies of past generations, she borrows various elements of folk, R&B and even classical and country to create a captivating hybrid style. Her body of work is musical, but it’s more than just music. It’s an exploration of the bright and dark corners of the human experience, and an affirmation of the power of the human spirit.

Music and spirituality have always been fully intertwined in the artistic vision of trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator, and activist Sean Jones. Singing and performing as a child with the church choir in his hometown of Warren, Ohio, Jones switched from the drums to the trumpet at the age of 10. He turned a 6-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra into an offer from Wynton Marsalis for a permanent position as lead trumpeter, a post he held from 2004 until 2010. In 2015, Jones was tapped to become a member of the SFJAZZ Collective. He has kept a core group of talented musicians together, producing and releasing eight recordings on the Mack Avenue Records; the latest is his 2017 release, Sean Jones: Live from the Jazz Bistro.

Dave Hagedorn is a retired Artist in Residence at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where he taught percussion, jazz studies, and world music. In June 2019, DownBeat magazine awarded St. Olaf Jazz I an Outstanding Performance among undergraduate large jazz ensembles, and in June 2011, DownBeat magazine deemed St. Olaf Jazz I to be the “Best Undergraduate Large Jazz Ensemble” in the 34th annual student music awards. This group had a very successful cultural exchange tour in Cuba in March of 2016.

He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, and the University of Minnesota.

Hagedorn has a number of jazz albums as a leader: Solid/Liquid on the artegra label in SACD format released in October of 2003, and a duo album with pianist Dan Cavanagh, Horizon, released in December of 2010. Released in April 2014, is a recording with the Chris Bates Good Vibes Trio. The latest release is 20 Years, also recorded with Dan Cavanagh, released in January 2018.

He has recorded with the George Russell Living Time Orchestra on Blue Note Recordings (nominated for a Grammy award), jazz singer Debbie Duncan on Igmod Recordings, Brian Setzer Big Band, Pete Whitman X-tet, Phil Hey Quartet, the Out to Lunch Quintet, and also with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on Teldec Recordings. Hagedorn regularly performs in the Twin Cities with groups such as the Phil Hey Quartet, Inatnas Jazz Orchestra, and Chris Bates Good Vibes Trio and in Iowa with the Blake Shaw Big(ish) Band. On the classical side of music, he also has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, VocalEssence, Cantus, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra.

José L. Encarnación leads the jazz improvisation classes, directs the LU Jazz Band, coaches jazz small groups, teaches applied jazz saxophone, coordinates the jazz performance program and Chairs the Jazz & Improvisational Music Department and The Bachelor of Musical Arts Program at the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music. He studied saxophone, flute and clarinet at the Free School of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated magna cum laude, and received his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music (including the 2002 Schirmer Prize in Jazz Performance). He previously served as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music, Instructor of Saxophone, Latin Jazz Performance Workshop, and Youth Saxology for the Eastman Community School, and as Jazz Ensemble Conductor at the Rochester (NY) School of the Arts. Learn more about José Encarnación.

Bill Carrothers has been a professional pianist for more than 40 years. He has played many venues throughout the U.S. and Europe including the The Village Vanguard, Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Monterey Jazz Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Audi Jazz Festival, the Nevers Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, AngraJazz, and the Marciac Festival in France. In October of 2000, Mr. Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Learn more about Bill Carrothers.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.

Mark Urness is a versatile bassist, composer, and educator. His diverse performance experience encompasses orchestral, chamber, solo, and jazz playing. He is an associate professor of music at �������ý��Ƶ in Appleton, Wisconsin and the principal bassist of the Weidner Center Philharmonic Orchestra. His playing on the unaccompanied jazz album, Foreground, was described by Bass World magazine as “completely in command of the instrument and the tunes, rife with good ideas, melodic instinct, and groove.” Recent performances include chamber music broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, concerto performances as guest soloist with the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra, a solo recital at the 2018 ISB convention, and jazz performances with Bill Carrothers, Danilo Perez, Peter Erskine, and Joe Locke. Learn more about Mark Urness.

Before graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Tim Albright began recording and touring with alto saxophonist, Steve Coleman. Shortly after, he moved to New York where he lived for seventeen years. Tim loves just about every genre of music, and in New York, he was lucky to have played, toured and/or recorded with an eclectic mix of artists including the Metropolitan Opera, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dafnis Prieto, Steve Lehman, Miguel Zenon, Jay-Z, Barbara Streisand, Sufjan Stevens, and the National. He was also a pit musician for many, many Broadway productions. He was a member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet for fifteen years, and recently toured with the American Brass Quintet performing the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s breathtaking Book of Brass. Learn more about Tim Albright.

Matt Turner is widely regarded as one of the world's leading improvising cellists. Equally skilled as a pianist, Turner performs in numerous styles and has shared the stage in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster, avant-garde musicians Marilyn Crispell, Peter Kowald, Guillermo Gregorio, Scott Fields, and John Butcher, as well as country musician Wanda Vick, singer-songwriter LJ Booth, and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin to name a few. He appears on over 100 recordings on Sketch/Harmonia Mundi, Illusions, Music and Arts, Accurate, Polyvinyl, Cadence Jazz and others, recording with jazz violinist Randy Sabien, goth vocalist/pianist Jo Gabriel, singer/songwriters Mark Croft and Tret Fure, punk artist Kyle Fischer, Kitty Brazelton's chamber rockestra Dadadah, alt-country band Heller Mason, and with the Pointless Orchestra. Learn more about Matt Turner.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.

Jasper Kashou is a musician and educator who has worked in the Milwaukee and Appleton areas for the past 10 years as a composer, arranger, clinician, conductor, private lesson teacher, and woodwinds player. He recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance and music education from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music. While at �������ý��Ƶ, he wrote for and performed as a soloist with the award-winning �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble. He was named a winner of the 2022-2023 LU Concerto Competition, and was awarded the Pi Mu Kappa honor for jazz composition.

Jasper is currently getting his master’s degree in jazz composition at the University of North Texas with plans to begin his career as a band teacher and eventually pursue a Ph.D. in music education.