Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble

The Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco is a performing group of talented student musicians ages ten to 18. The group entered the Bay Area music scene on September 15th, 2001, at “A Tribute to Cal Tjader,” a concert held at San Francisco's Masonic Auditorium. The ensemble opened the program for the Grammy Award winning Poncho Sanchez band and later jammed with Sanchez and other legendary performers. In spite of being only four days after the national tragedy of September 11th, the show went on, and concert goers in need of emotional relief enthusiastically embraced the group. They have played a number of high profile gigs around the Bay Area. In 2004 the LJYE opened for Cuban bass legend Israel "Cachao" Lopez in San Francisco. In April 2005 they opened for the Grammy winning Salsa band Spanish Harlem Orchestra and in October 2005 opened for Grammy nominated "Yerba Buena" at the San Francisco Latin Jazz Festival. The LJYE has played several times at the San Jose Jazz Festival and San Francisco's Carnaval Parade and Festival. In August 2007 they opened the pre-game show for the San Francisco Giants with special guest, the great Cuban pianist, Chuchito Valdes.The group has continued to develop not only as an ensemble but also as a performing arts organization. In 2006 they were designated as Artists in Residence at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival where they perform frequently. That fall, the LJYE Workshop was created to provide intermediate players an opportunity to learn advanced performance techniques and to provide an entry point into the performing ensemble.Music Director John Calloway is an internationally renown virtuoso flutist, composer, arranger and educator. Co-director is Sylvia Ramirez and managing director is Arturo Riera . For more information contact [email protected].