Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras has announced the appointment of trumpeter, bandleader, and educator PHAREZ WHITTED as director of a new Jazz Orchestra that will make its debut this fall. Comprising musicians of high-school age, the ensemble will be dedicated to “the full spectrum of jazz compositions, from classic big-band swing charts steeped in jazz tradition to new works by locally and nationally renowned jazz composers.” Whitted has been director of jazz studies at Chicago State University for the past fifteen years, and he serves on the faculty of Ravinia Festival’s Jazz Scholar Program. During his 30-year performing career he has collaborated with such artists as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, George Duke, The Temptations, John Mellencamp, and Ramsey Lewis, and has recorded for Motown’s jazz label, MoJazz.
Posted July 28, 2016
