The 1: UTA Jazz Ensemble is the second big band at the University of Texas at Arlington. The ensemble focuses on essential jazz styles and techniques. Performing music of the big band masters as well as more recent repertoire, the ensemble allows students a chance to present audiences with exceptional concerts while gaining valuable experience in the jazz idiom. The Jazz Ensemble has performed at the University of Kansas at Wichita Jazz Festival, Six Flags Over Texas, previous Main St Fort Worth Arts Festivals, and other events locally and regionally.
The UTAJO has performed invitational concerts at the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland; the first International Jazz Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil; the first International Jazz Festival in Nassau, Bahamas. Other international tours include Montreal, Canada; the American Music Festival in Manila, Philippines; and Beijing, China. Telecasts by the Swiss, Japanese, Philippine, American and Brazilian Public Broadcasting Systems have brought UTAJO performances to an estimated 70 million people across four continents.
The jazz studies program offers several jazz combos. Membership is open to any currently-enrolled student at 1: UTA, regardless of major. In these small groups, students are able to work on interaction and improvisation in an intimate setting. With a blend of classic small group repertoire, jazz standards, and student compositions and arrangements, these groups are the cornerstone of students' training in jazz studies. In addition to performing at the Late Night Jazz Sampler each semester, the jazz combos often perform at on-campus events, local and regional functions, the Fort Worth Jazz by the Boulevard Festival, and much more. The jazz combos are directed by the jazz faculty and jazz graduate teaching assistants.
Born in Dallas in 1991, New York-based performer Jazzmeia Horn is a gifted jazz vocalist with an inventive, scat-influenced style that helped her win the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition. She is a singer who stands apart from many of her peers because she takes on every song she sings so naturally; every word, gesture, and ornament becomes an expression of her total conviction and she completely comes alive in the moment.
