Spring Festival
May 3-17, 2025
2025 Artists
​The Lionel Hampton Big Band is one of the longest running orchestras in jazz history. Co-led by former Hampton band members, the Lionel Hampton Big Band brings Hampton’s hard-swinging jazz to life with energetic performances of his classic hits. Continuing his legacy, the band honors the jazz icon’s collaborations with greats like Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.
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Co-leaders learned from a master and re-launched the Hampton Band to pass on his spirit—great musicians, great tunes, and great fun. All the players worked follow in Lionel Hampton's footsteps to delight audiences with funny stories and anecdotes. The Band plays the original arrangements they played with Lionel Hampton, and new audiences are finding out what made Hamp a star. Their commitment to Hamptons legacy is proof that jazz roots grow into exciting new tunes, thrive in new times, and produce new jazz masters.
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Members traveling to Juneau are Christian Fabian & Cleave Guyton along with Joe Doubleday, Doug Miller, Ryan Shore, Anibel Martinez, Jon McGowan, Alex Jeun, David Gibson, & Matthew Perri.​
Grammy-winning Americana music duo Mark and Maggie O’Connor fell in love after playing violin together at a New York City gala in the Spring of 2014. They married shortly after and have been inseparable since.
Mark O’Connor’s credentials are second to none in the world of traditional music. A triple Grammy winner and seven-time CMA Musician of the Year, he’s an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist who is equally adept on fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. He’s also made his mark as a modern classical composer, having broken new ground with such stirring compositions as Appalachia Waltz and The Fiddle Concerto.
Maggie O’Connor is also adept and accomplished in her own right, courtesy of a Grammy win, a master’s degree in classical violin performance from the famed Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and an extended stint in the O’Connor Family Band.
The two celebrate a personal and professional partnership that began in 2014 with the American Classical violin duo. Their work has currently culminated in their most accessible effort yet, Life After Life, a series of songs composed mainly by Mark (who’s also credited with production), but which decidedly benefits from the input of both. Maggie takes her turn as lead singer on several of the tracks. The result is a consistently infectious set of songs, which, true to the album’s title, expresses the need for hope and optimism, even in the face of obstacles and adversity
Since their founding in 2005, the JACK Quartet has been introducing audiences world-wide to a range of experimental chamber music, performing everywhere from classical music halls to art galleries to bars. The quartet commissions new music from currently working composers and collaborate with them to bring it to life. They are committed to dismantling outmoded classical music pipelines for composers through their JACK Studio program, which includes residencies, commissions, readings, and recordings. They are the Quartet in Residence at The New School in New York City, and teach at music festivals, conservatories, and universities.
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They have been nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards, the most recent being Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for John Luther Adams’ Waves and Particles. Among the highlights of the 2024-2025 season, JACK Quartet officially marks their 20th anniversary with a celebratory concert at 92NY in New York City, featuring the world premiere of a new JACK-commissioned work by Anthony Cheung; the U.S. premiere of JACK commission, Juri Seo’s Three Imaginary Chansons, at Lincoln Center; and the world premiere of Ellen Fullman’s Energy Archive at the Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival 2025 in Pittsburgh. In addition, JACK Quartet celebrates their long association with composer John Zorn with the release of Zorn’s complete string quartets on Tzadik Records, as well as an album release concert at Brooklyn’s Roulette Intermedium.
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The JACK Quartet is comprised of violinists Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Jay Campbell.
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Memphis Gold has come a long way on a journey that has lasted half a century. Having released four full length albums to date, he has shared the stage billing with such artists as Bernard Allison, James Brown, R.L. Burnside, Barbara Carr, George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic All Stars, just to name a few. He's toured & been featured in festivals across the world.
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Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955, Memphis Gold, Chester Chandler was the thirteenth child of fourteen. His father also a musician introduced his son to the guitar at the tender age of 4. By the age of 8, he was a regular on historic Beale Street in Memphis where he played the guitar and danced for pocket change from the crowd. At the age of 12, his guitar skills were honed learning licks at the knee of legendary Delta picker and gospel player Reverend Robert “Tim” Wilkins.​​​
The blues world continues to discover and love the music of Memphis Gold. Living Blues Magazine, the oldest authoritative Blues Magazine in America placed him on the cover of their February/March 2009 edition, and Gibson Guitars recognized Memphis Gold by awarding him with a custom guitar and endorsement. He was thrilled to perform at the Red, White and Blue Ball, the Official Military Inaugural Ball in January 2009,and 2017 the Heroes Inaugural Ball opening for Brett Micheals. His music can be found on BB King’s Bluesville on XM Radio, Comcast Music on Demand, and radio stations throughout the world. ​​​​
Bryan Wallick
Piano
Bryan Wallick is gaining recognition as one of the great American virtuoso pianists of his generation. Gold medalist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa.
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He studied with Jerome Lowenthal in New York City where he was the first Juilliard School graduate to receive both an undergraduate Honors Diploma (2000) and an accelerated master's Degree (2001). He continued his studies with Christopher Elton in London at the Royal Academy of Music where he was the recipient of the Associated Board International Scholarship, receiving a Post-graduate Diploma with Distinction. He previously studied with Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Mr. Wallick has recently been appointed as Assistant-Professor of Piano at Colorado State University where he lives with his wife and three children.
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Wallick made his New York recital debut in 1998 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and made his Wigmore Hall recital debut in London in 2003. He has also performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church.
Mr. Wallick is also actively involved in organizing the International Keyboard Odyssiad and Summer Festival (IKOF) in Colorado where he regularly performs, lectures and teaches, and is also on the faculty for the Rocky Ridge Summer Festival in Estes Park, Colorado.​ His most recent engagements include appearances with the Brevard Symphony, Boulder Symphony, Cape Town Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Western Piedmont Symphony.
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MU2 Wes Carroll – trumpet
MU2 Carrie Blosser – trumpet
MU2 Chandler Davis – saxophone
MU3 Michael Petty – saxophone
MU1 Steven Hooper – trombone, unit leader
MU3 Alex Mayhew – trombone
MU3 Brady Robinson – tuba
MU1 Sam Stewart – percussion
Martha Masters
Classical Guitar
​Martha Masters first achieved international recognition in 2000 when she won first prize in the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. That same year she also won the Andres Segovia International Competition in Linares, Spain, and was named a finalist in the Alexandre Tansman International Competition of Musical Personalities in Lodz, Poland.
Since then, Ms. Masters has been active as a solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist around the world. Recent seasons included appearances at festivals and on concert series through the United States, Europe, Russia, China and Australia.
Masters received both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with Manuel Barrueco, and completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California as a student of Scott Tennant.
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Ms. Masters is on faculty at Arizona State University, and is President of the Guitar Foundation of America. She has released seven recordings (Naxos, GSP and independent releases), and has published three books with Mel Bay Publications and Alfred Music.
Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award-winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director, and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry, and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought-after and active cellists today.
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Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. His primary teachers include Loran Stephenson, Stephen Kates and Joel Krosnick. Mr. Bailey performs on the "rosette" 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive solo touring engagements, he is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center(Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso