Jazz Festival

Remy Le Boeuf

Remy Le Boeuf is a four-time Grammy-nominated composer and saxophonist whose music is rooted in jazz and overlaps into contemporary classical and post-rock realms. Le Boeuf is also the founder of the jazz orchestra, Assembly of Shadows, and the Chief Conductor of the Nordkraft Big Band. He has worked with a range of collaborators, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Linda Oh, HAIM, JACK Quartet, Dayna Stephens, and his twin Pascal, with whom he co-leads the experimental quintet Le Boeuf Brothers. Le Boeuf is the director of jazz studies at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.

Dean Sorenson

Dean Sorenson is associate professor and director of jazz studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities as well as a prolific and highly sought-after composer, arranger, trombonist, educator, and clinician. Sorenson’s latest recording project is Colors of Soul, a CD of original music for sextet. His most recent books include Total Jazz Theory and First Place for Jazz, both published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company. He is frequently featured at festivals and conventions and maintains a full schedule of concert and recording dates as a Yamaha performing artist. Learn more.

James Suggs

At the age of sixteen, Suggs was selected to tour with The Continental Singers. He toured Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and the US. As a junior in college at Youngstown State, he toured in China. He has also toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and performed in several Latin American countries.  The first album under his name, You're Gonna Hear from Me, was released in 2018 on Arbors Records. It was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey and features jazz giants Lafayette Harris, Lewis Nash, and Peter Washington, with jazz legend Houston Person on saxophone and serving as album producer.

Alejandro Arenas

Alejandro Arenas is a versatile bassist, composer, producer and educator. Hailing from Medellin, Colombia, he relocated to the United States in 2001 and quickly became in demand, performing in a wide variety of styles. Arenas co-leads the jazz trio La Lucha and world music ensemble Orilla. He has appeared in numerous recordings as both a musician and producer. He has performed with a variety of internationally acclaimed jazz musicians including Randy Brecker, Ken Peplowski, Antonio Adolfo, Dick Hyman, Diego Figueiredo, Melissa Aldana, and Houston Person. He holds a master's in jazz performance from the University of South Florida and is a professor at St. Petersburg College in the music industry and recording arts program.

Mark Feinman

Mark Feinman is a composer, musician, and producer from the Tampa Bay area. With more than twenty years of extensive performance and composition experience, his music has been featured on albums, film, TV, animated series, and commercials. Feinman has led masterclasses at universities and performed at festivals and venues around the United States and Europe. He is the adjunct drum set instructor at St. Petersburg College, co-leads the trio La Lucha, and is the co-founder of the songwriting team Moonlit Musica.

Participating Faculty

Adolfo Carlos Fernandes de Mendonça Junior

Adolfo Mendonça serves as director of jazz at the University of Minnesota Morris, where he teaches jazz musicianship classes, directs jazz ensembles, and is responsible for the annual UMM Jazz Festival. He has served as an instructor at Conservatorio Municipal de Guarulhos in Brazil and at Knox College in the United States. He has also served as a guest lecturer at numerous universities and conservatories in the US and Brazil. As a jazz pianist, Mendonça has performed in jazz clubs and festivals around the world. He collaborated through performances/recordings with musicians such as Randy Brecker, Piska, Arthur Maia, Jose Valentino Ruiz, Mark Tonelli, Tammy Scheffer, and more. His recent record Brazilian Childhood features both acoustic and electronic instrumentation mixing jazz improvisation, electronic instruments, and influences of Brazilian music. He was awarded third prize at the prestigious Guiomar Novaes competition in Brazil in 2021.

Yulene Velásquez

Yulene Velásquez is a Venezuelan singer, music educator and choral conductor. She graduated with a PhD in music education from Louisiana State University. Yulene performed internationally as a member of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela and worked with world renowned composers such as John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, and Alberto Grau. In 2015, she founded the chamber choir Schola NOLA and is currently the director of choral activities at the University of Minnesota Morris. Her performances as a vocalist include the New Orleans Jazz Festival, jingle recordings, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Latin American repertoire with Gauchos del Tango, Ashé Son, and Panorama Jazz Band in New Orleans.