PLU Weathermon Jazz Festival
March 18, 2025
Eastvold Auditorium - Karen Hille Phillips Center | Cassio Vianna, Director
The PLU School of Music, Theatre & Dance invites High School Jazz Bands to register for our PLU Weathermon Jazz Festival. The festival is sponsored by the Pacific Lutheran University School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Dick and Helen Weathermon Joyful Noise Endowment for Jazz Studies. A non-competitive music event, this festival aims to provide helpful feedback to jazz ensembles and band directors; to inspire the next generations of jazz musicians through professional concerts, clinics, and masterclasses; and to build connections in the jazz community within our region and beyond.
Festival Highlights
- Performance/clinic: Each school band will perform and receive a 30-minute clinic from two professional jazz educators following their performance on stage
- Midday Concert: The PLU Jazz Ensemble will perform a short concert
- Artist Talk/Q&A: Guest artist (Wayne Bergeron) will give a masterclass, followed by a Q&A session
- Registration fee: $200 Please note that no refunds will be allowed after event registration has been completed.
- Evening Concert: A full performance with the PLU Jazz Ensemble (7:30pm)
GUEST ARTIST
Wayne Bergeron is enjoying a career as one of the most sought-after musicians in the world. Studio sessions, film dates, international touring, jazz concerts, guest appearances, and clinics keep him busy not only in his hometown of Los Angeles but worldwide.
Bergeron first caught the ear of many when he landed the lead trumpet chair with Maynard Ferguson’s band in 1986. Bergeron can be heard on Maynard’s recordings of Body and Soul, Big Bop Nouveau, Brass Attitude, and The One and Only Maynard Ferguson. Bergeron demonstrates daily why Maynard remarked, “Wayne is the most musical lead trumpet player I’ve had on my band.”
As a sideman, Bergeron’s list of recording credits reads like a “who’s who” in contemporary jazz and pop, running the stylistic gamut from Ray Charles to Green Day. Other names include Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble, Indina Menzel, Leslie Oden Jr., Herb Alpert, The Jonas Brothers, Burt Bacharach, The Dirty Loops, Seth MacFarlane, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Seal, Diana Krall, Tito Puente, Christina Aguilera, Dianne Reeves, Michael Bolton, Earth Wind & Fire, The Pussy Cat Dolls, My Chemical Romance, The Mars Volta, Chicago, Rosemary Clooney, Diane Schuur, Barry Manilow, Lee Ann Womack, Lou Rawls, Eric Marienthal, Kenny G., and David Benoit.
Bergeron has worked on over 500 TV & motion picture soundtracks. A partial list of film credits includes Soul, Bob’s Burgers, Ford vs. Ferrari, Toy Story 4, Frozen 1 & 2, The Lion King (2019), The Secret Life of Pets, Wreck it Ralph 2, Crazy Rich Asians, Moana, Frozen 1 & 2, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, High School Musical 3, Get Smart, Superman Returns, The Simpson’s Movie, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Mission Impossible 3, Ice Age 2, Spiderman 1 & 2, Team America and South Park.
Bergeron’s featured trumpet solos can be heard on the motion pictures West Side Story (2021 Steven Spielberg), La La Land, Sing, The Incredibles 1 & 2, Rocky Balboa, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Rough Night, Jazzman’s Blues, Vacation Friends, Ted 2, Minions, Minions 2:The Rise of Gru, Spies in Disguise, Jersey Boys, The Green Hornet, The Interview, Despicable Me 1, 2 & 3, Duplicity, Princess & the Frog, The Perfect Game,, Hey Arnold (the movie), The Rat Pack, Child Star, Aladdin King of Thieves and High Crimes and many others.
Numerous TV credits include Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, SAG Awards, NBC, ESPN & TNT sports themes, American Idol (2001-02), Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Animaniacs Reboot, Family Guy, American Dad, Simpson’s, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, The Cleveland Show, Green Eggs and Ham, Will and Grace, Phineas & Ferb, Emperor’s New School, Mouse Works, Have a Laugh, House of Mouse, King of the Hill, Futurama, Buzz Lightyear, Hercules, and Hey Arnold.
Bergeron’s greatest love is playing lead in big bands. He has recorded and played with some of Los Angeles’ most respected bands including Gordon Goodwin, Arturo Sandoval, Pat Williams, Sammy Nestico, Jack Sheldon, Chris Walden, Tom Kubis, John La Barbara, Bob Florence, Joey Sellers, Ray Anthony, Bill Watrous, Bob Curnow, and Quincy Jones.
After being behind the scene for so many years, Bergeron stepped out on his own with his first solo effort, You Call This a Living? This debut project earned him a Grammy nomination in 2004 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble, as well as rave reviews from fans and press worldwide. Bergeron’s second CD, Plays Well With Others, released on the Concord Jazz label in 2007, was met with the same acclaim. Bergeron’s most current (and personal favorite) CD, Full Circle, was released in January of 2016.
Bergeron performs various events for the Hollywood Bowl summer season. He has done guest appearances with the L.A. Philharmonic, The New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Taiwan Symphony, and Tokyo Philharmonic. Bergeron is a National Artist for the Yamaha Corporation of America.
CLINICIANS
A New Jersey native, Deb Schaaf has built a reputation as an energetic and knowledgeable teacher and clinician within the thriving northwest Jazz Education scene. Deb’s bands have won top solo, combo, ensemble and sweepstakes trophies at festivals throughout the Western United States, as well as 2018 and 2019 Outstanding Performance Awards from DownBeat Magazine. Her band was also selected for a featured performance at the 2020 JEN Conference in New Orleans. In 2016, she was nominated by her students and won the 21st Century Fox/ Give a Note Foundation MusicEd Idol Award. She was the founding director of the Jane Addams Middle School Music Department, has served in leadership roles on writing teams for Curriculum and Assessment, and was a Seattle Public Schools Mentor Teacher. Deb is currently the big band director for Jazz Night School, the director of Roosevelt High School’s Jazz Band 3 and is musical director of both Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra and Rainbow City Jazz Band, as well as playing bari for Big Band Blue.
Dan Davey is the Director of Jazz Studies and tenured Music Instructor at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, where he directs the premiere jazz ensemble and teaches core music courses. He is the Festival Director for the historic Mt. Hood Jazz Festival and he is on the assessment faculty for the American Band College of Central Washington University. Dan also serves on the board of the Oregon Music Educators Association as the State Jazz Championship Chair. Dan received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Berklee College of Music and his Master of Music from Sam Houston State University. He taught high school for eight years in Massachusetts before moving into higher education at Stonehill College and now at MHCC.Dan works as a pianist, organist, and trumpet player and has performed at several notable venues around the country. He has played with the Southcoast Jazz Orchestra, the John Allmark Jazz Orchestra and Herb Reed and the Platters. In addition, Dan has performed and collaborated with several leaders in the industry, including Doc Severinsen, Bobby Shew, Allen Vizzutti, Terell Stafford, John Riley, Tiger Okoshi, Dominick Farinacci, Earl MacDonald, Marcus Printup, and the late Chris Vadala. Above all, his greatest passion is spending time with his wife and their two sons!
Jessika Smith is an award-winning jazz composer, saxophonist, and music educator. She teaches at Parkrose Middle School and High School in Portland, and she directs the Jessika Smith Big Band. She plays frequently with jazz groups throughout Oregon and Washington, including Torrey Newhart’s Obsidian Animals and the Frank Irwin Sextet. Jessika has worked with numerous young jazz groups in the Northwest, and frequently adjudicates jazz festivals and competitions throughout the west coast. Jessika studied Jazz Composition and Arranging with Steve Owen at the University of Oregon, and has played and recorded professionally with many groups, including the Bob Curnow Big Band, Spokane Jazz Orchestra, the Columbia Basin Jazz Orchestra, the Emerald City Jazz Kings, and the Portland Jazz Composer’s Ensemble. Her first album, “Tricks of Light” features “Lights”, which was the 2013 winner of the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra Composition Contest, and “Cyan Thread”, which won the 2015 NBA Young Jazz Composer Contest.
Steve Treseler is an award-winning Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, and innovative leader in teaching improvised music. Steve performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and Europe, performing at Birdland, Blue Note Hawaii, and live on NPR’s Jazz Night in America. Treseler’s musical voice crystallized during his studies at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he was exposed to an eclectic range of improvised music and the mentorship of jazz legends Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, and George Garzone. Today, Treseler is embedded in the jazz and creative music scene in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Jim Knapp Orchestra, Johnaye Kendrick, Jay Thomas, and as a leader in his own notable groups. Treseler’s six recording projects as a leader include collaborations with the lauded trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. His latest album, The Grind with In Motion Quartet, will be released in the fall of 2024. As a teaching artist, Treseler is the founder of Infinite Improvisation, offering community-centered workshops and retreats that draw from improv theater games, conducted improvisation, and the aural tradition of jazz. Steve is the author of two instructional books, the Amazon Bestseller Creativity Triggers for Musicians (2017) and The Living Jazz Tradition: A Creative Guide to Improvisation and Harmony (CMA Press, 2014), which are used in music schools worldwide. Treseler is a Conn Selmer performing artist.
For Questions:
Dr. Cassio Vianna, Associate Professor of Music; Director of Jazz Studies
School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Pacific Lutheran University
(253) 535-7760 e-mail: cassio.vianna@plu.edu
Abby Deskins, Coordinator of Educational Outreach Programs
College of Professional Studies; Pacific Lutheran University
(253) 535-7877 e-mail: adeskins@plu.edu
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