Conductors

Dr. Joseph L. Jefferson serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Ensembles/Applied Jazz Trombone at St. Olaf College, where he works at the intersection of jazz and classical traditions. His teaching and performing reflect a deep commitment to musical excellence, collaboration, and community. A Yamaha Performing Artist, Dr. Jefferson was recognized among Yamaha’s “40 Under 40” Class of 2023 and received the 2022 Ellis Marsalis, Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year Award from the Jazz Education Network. He has shared the stage with artists such as Vanessa Williams, Sean Jones, and Nick Finzer, and has appeared as a soloist with ensembles including the Marshall University and George Fox University Jazz Ensembles. His work has been featured at the International Trombone Festival and the Jazz Education Network Conference, along with international performances and teaching residencies in Bermuda, Thailand, and Brazil. A regular clinician for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dr. Jefferson approaches both performance and teaching with a belief in music’s power to connect, inspire, and transform. Dr. Jefferson is a Fall 2003 initiate of the Iota Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, at Norfolk State University.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, saxophonist and educator Jarrard Harris attended the Youth Performing Arts School in high school and attended the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music to further his jazz studies. At CCM he studied with Rick VanMatre, Pat Harbison, and Marc Fields. Upon Graduation from CCM Harris moved to Chicago in 1998 to further his studies at DePaul University where under the tutelage of Bob Lark, Tim Coffman, and Marc Colby he earned his master’s degree in jazz studies. Harris currently lives in Chicago, where he is on the jazz faculty of Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago and the City Colleges of Chicago. He also serves as the director of jazz studies with the Chicago Public Schools Advanced Arts Education Program at Gallery 37. He maintains an active private teaching studio in addition to adjudicating and performing at college and high school festivals, giving master classes, and lecturing, he has performed with musicians in the United States and abroad. Jarrard was a founding board member of the Jazz education Network and serves as a current board member for the Jazz Institute of Chicago.