MacPhail’s elite Dakota Combo features some of the top high school talent in the state.  This group is an audition-based jazz combo made up of the region’s top high school jazz musicians. Additionally, musicians are offered scholarships for a year of serious extra-curricular jazz study and performance.

Inspired by the concept of community, the string ensemble of Walker West was created to perform works that reflect the cultural diversity of the string students and families in our program.  Kamoinge is a Kikuyu (Kenya) word meaning a group working together, unforced and unconstrained, to do good for the community.

When the artistry of vocalist Jennifer Grimm met the mastery of composer-arranger Adi Yeshaya, a new sound was born. Don’t miss this thirteen-piece jazz orchestra in a night of compositions and new arrangements of jazz and pop favorites. Composer, arranger and jazz pianist Adi Yeshaya was born and raised in Israel. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, […]

Jenny Klukken is a marimbist, composer, recording artist and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since studying percussion performance at the University of Minnesota, Jenny has developed her career as a crossover marimbist, performing and writing music in styles including Jazz, Pop, Americana, Hip Hop, Brazilian, and more. In 2018, she received an MRAC Next Step […]

Charlie Bruber and Jack Barrett, longtime friends and collaborators, will perform a duo set at Berlin. When they play their original compositions as a duo, you can hear a friendship distilled to its purest form. This show is an official Twin Cities Jazz Festival event! Jack Barrett has explored avenues of classical, progressive rock, metal, […]

Dorothy Doring is a seasoned Minnesota jazz vocalist. Doring’s professional singing career has developed over several decades producing three award winning jazz albums. Dorothy has past experience in everything from country to rock to blues and jazz. Dorothy adds the freedom of jazz improvisation plus the intimacy of cabaret into every performance. Dorothy Doring and […]

Jazz pianist Jon Weber has recorded and toured all over the world, winning numerous honors for performance and composition – scoring extensively for television since 1987. Gary Burton, Roy Hargrove, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Avishai Cohen have all recorded Jon’s music, and his critically acclaimed release, SIMPLE COMPLEX, rose to #1. Jon lives in New […]

The Selby Avenue Brass Band brings a unique voice to the Minneapolis / St. Paul music scene.  While our musical roots come from the streets of New Orleans we expand from that genre into many others. The group is led by Tom Wells, tubaist, arranger & composer and music educator in the Twin Cities area. Tom’s […]