The APEX Arts League will present tobrthe Northeast Tarrant County community The One O’Clock Lab Band in concert onbrSaturday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m., at White's Chapel United Methodist Church, 185 South White’s Chapel Boulevard,brSouthlake.
"Three fabulous local high schoolbrjazz bands will open the program, performing commissioned pieces written bybrcomposition students at [the University of North Texas]," Terri Messing of APEX Arts League said in a press release. The high school bands include: Naaman Forest Jazz Band, Carroll Jazz Orchestra, and Rowlett High School Jazz Band.
Each year APEX invites one of the strongest high school jazz orchestras in the Metroplex, the Carroll Jazz Orchestra, to help anchor its educational festival, according to APEX board member Becky Miltenberger. Next, with the help of David Lown, director of the Carroll Jazz Program, APEX looks to local high school jazz programs and picks two participants to join Carroll in this festival.
"We look for programs that are strong in jazz, and that want to get stronger by participating in this unique learning opportunity," Miltenberger said. "The bands participate in a daylong clinic with members of the One O’Clock and its director, Jay Saunders. Also during the clinic, they work with the composers of the charts written just for them by composition students at UNT. Finally, they complete their learning experience by performing these original charts in the evening as the opening acts for the One O’Clock."
The One O’Clock, under the directionbrof Jay Saunders, is the premier performing jazz ensemble from thebrinternationally acclaimed University of North Texas’ Jazz StudiesbrProgram. The One O’Clock is a six time Grammy-nominated ensemblebrand has performed locally and internationally for more than 65 years, producing morebrthan 60 albums in its tenure. br
"When APEX first invited the One O’Clock to perform in Southlake several years ago, it was with an eye to giving the Northeast Region of Tarrant County an opportunity to hear the incredible jazz talent that lies just down the road from here," Miltenberger said. "As we developed the APEX Jazz Festival into an educationally themed day long program, we wanted to share with local high schools an opportunity to see first-hand jazz talent with whom they could relate and from whom they could learn through one-on-one teaching and jamming."
By combining the master clinic during the day and the concert in the evening, APREX is able to complete a two-fold mission: help educate Metroplex students in the art of Jazz, and give Northeast Tarrant County an introduction to "one of the most talented jazz ensembles in the country, the One O’Clock Lab Band," Miltenberger explained.
Tickets available at the door are $10 forbradults and $5 for students, seniors and APEX members.
Southlake-based Apex Arts Leaguebrsponsors a variety of performing and visual arts programs in the local area.brFor more information, visit apex-arts.org.
"In our eight years history, APEX has strived to bring the 'best' of the Dallas Fort Worth area to Northeast Tarrant County so that people living here can participate in quality arts events close to home," Messing said.
One O'Clock Lab Band Tour Dates/Locations
CancerBlows: Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen, Lee Loughnane, and more trumpet luminaries
March 4, 2015 - 7:30pm
35th Annual Denton Arts & Jazz Festival
April 24, 2015 - 7:00pm
68th Annual Lab Band Madness Concert
April 25, 2015 - 1:00pm
McDavid Studio, Fort Worth
May 15, 2015 - 7:30pm
APEX 2014-15 Series Dates/Locations
Strokes of Art in the Square Gallery
opening with Azura Winds
Feb. 22, 5 - 6:30 p.m., Southlake Town Hall
Fort Worth Opera
March 17, 7 p.m., Whites Chapel Methodist Church
Art in the Square - Emerging Artists
April 24-26, Southlake Town Square
The TCU Frog Corps and the Vocal Majority
April 27, 7:30 p.m., TCU's Ed Landreth Auditorium, Fort Worth
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Family Concert
May 21, 5:30 p.m. (concert begins at 6:30 p.m.), White's Chapel Methodist Church