Music Professor to Direct Texas All-State Jazz Ensemble

Dr. Will Campbell, professor of saxophone and director of the Jazz Studies program, has been invited to direct the Texas All-State Jazz Band II at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio, February 8-11. Representing more than 17,000 current and future music educator members, the TMEA is one of the largest and most significant music educators organizations in the country, and the convention is the largest music educators convention in the nation.

Students in the All-State bands represent the top young musicians of the state and have won as many as five auditions to earn the opportunity to participate in the conference. Campbell will rehearse the Jazz Band II group in multiple workshops, then present them in performance on February 11.

Campbell has long ties to Texas, having attended the University of North Texas, where he earned a Bachelor of Music (Jazz Studies) and Master of Music (Saxophone Performance), before completing his doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From 1999 to 2019, he served as a member of the University of North Texas Summer Jazz Workshop Faculty. He has also been invited to direct All-State Jazz Bands in New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Campbell has performed at conferences for the North American Saxophone Alliance, International Association for Jazz Education, The Jazz Education Network, and the World Saxophone Congress. From 1990 to 1994, he toured internationally as a member of the Harry Connick, Jr. Orchestra and has performed with artists such as Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Doc Severinsen, and Louie Bellson and with ensembles such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, and Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. His original albums include Think Tank and Clarity.

Campbell is the founder and director of the 49er Jazz Festival, and annual clinic at UNC Charlotte that invites middle and high school jazz bands from across North Carolina to participate in a day of education, adjudication, and performance. This year’s 49er Jazz Festival will take place on February 18.