Synthesis to bring Prize-winning Jazz & Big Band at SCERA May 9

A classic jazz song declares, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing,” and if that’s true, then the May 9 performance at the SCERA Center for the Arts by BYU’s award-winning jazz and big band ensemble Synthesis should mean a lot of things.

The celebrated ensemble will swing with jazz, big band, American swing, blues, pop, Latin, funk and fusion in a 7 p.m. concert where playing renditions by such classic musicians as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Harry Connick, Jr., Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong is a performance staple.

Reserved-seat tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors (65+), students (w/ID) and children (age 3-11). They are available weekdays from 10am-6pm and Saturdays from 12Noon-6pm at the SCERA Center, 745 S. State St., Orem, by calling (801) 225-ARTS, online at www.scera.org or at the door 30 minutes prior to performance.

Synthesis began in 1973 and quickly became one of the university’s most sought after groups. It also became one of the most difficult groups of which to be a part. Rigorous auditions yield between 18 and 20 student musicians selected for the premier group.

Its popularity has remained intact, and the group has toured Japan, China, Scandinavia, the Soviet Union and Europe four times and has performed at Switzerland’s famed Montreux Jazz Fest. Synthesis has also won jazz festivals throughout the western United States and Europe, including the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival and the Disney World Jazz Festival. Among the group’s highlights was the opportunity to perform aboard the Queen Elizabeth II from New York City to South Hampton, England and for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Kenneth R. Jensen of Laguna Woods, Calif., is a big band specialist and frequent cruise lecturer. Of Synthesis he wrote, “I want you to know BYU’s Synthesis was the hit of the cruise. …standing ovations followed each performance. The nearly 2,000 passengers recognized them as young and brilliantly gifted players that really understand how to perform big band swing and jazz. In a word, they were sensational.”

Much of the group’s success can be attributed to its director, Ray Smith, who is the director of jazz studies and a woodwind professor at BYU. He earned his bachelor’s degree at BYU where he played lead alto saxophone and was first clarinet in the Wind Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra. He subsequently earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University and became a part of the BYU faculty in 1982.

Earlier this year he was awarded the first Utah Jazz Master award by the International Association for Jazz Education. This award goes to some of the great pioneers in jazz at an international/national level. During the presentation, the officers said Smith had made the biggest impact on the state of jazz in Utah than any other single individual and that any other future Jazz Master awards presented in Utah would bear his name.

“I can’t think of a better way to close out our Encore Season than with Ray and his talented group of musicians, “ says SCERA President & CEO Adam J. Robertson.