The VJC provides area music students (grades 8-12) an unparalleled opportunity to develop creatively.
06/19/2026
VJC Alumni Band Summer Celebration—Sat., 06/27 @ 7 PM!
Plus there's a celebratory "After-Party"...so please join us for the concert, then repair to the Jazzbird Lounge afterwards for conversation & conviviality!
(Also know VJC Director Russell Schmidt has waited decades to use this archaic form of the verb "repair" correctly. While the concert is a big deal, so is this FB post! Nice work, Russ!)
Yeah, Luke & Tyson! Way to represent!
We invite all our Phoenix friends to hear these two awesome young people (and another thirty, NOT SHOWN!) on Sat., June 27th @ 7 PM in Ravenscroft Hall for the VJC Alumni Band Summer Celebration! Come check out the Youth of America™ as they play a fantastic and adventurous program!!!
06/07/2026
Please join us on June 27th for the final VJC event of the 2025-26 season. Chillumni Band on the opening set, Thrillumni Band on the second half. GREAT MUSIC ALL NIGHT!
Tix available at TheRavenscroft.C0M
We've finally got a new recording up for a previously-available VJC Publications release!
Dave Rivello's What Next (a So What-adjacent piece originally commissioned by an Ohio school and premiered by trumpet soloist Sean Jones!!!) has been available for some time. But now we have a great recording for jazz fans and music educators to check out, with the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, live and in concert. The full version of What Next is up on YouTube, but this preview let''s you know what Dave's great composition is all about! Enjoy!
04/30/2026
Hey now! Trumpeter/Composer/Educator Kris Johnson's coming to AZ! COME CHECK HIM OUT! Friday night at 7 PM in Jazzbird with Mike Ozuna (guitar), myself (piano), Chris Finet (bass), and a surprise special guest on drums! *Looping Pedal Alert* BTW! This show is not to be missed!
Then on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM in Ravenscroft Hall, Kris joins the Cerulean Combo, the Sapphire Ensemble, and the Indigo Big Band, as the ensembles of the VJC's main educational program have their FINAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON! Music by Duke Ellington, Paul Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Thad Jones, Christian McBride, James Williams, and more! Support the Youth of America™ and check out the VJC on their Saturday matinee show with Kris Johnson!
04/17/2026
Congratulations to VJC alum Eddie Galicia, for receiving the first-ever Red sticker from the VJC!
BACK STORY: We give out Blue stickers to VJC members. And we make them available as freebies on the product table for Jazzbird and Ravenscroft Hall concertgoers from time to time.
We also had Green stickers made just for VJC/MSW-owned gear (affixed to flugelhorn cases, the backs of amps, etc.). We had some extra greenies, so for the last half-year, we've been giving a green sticker away once a week at Indigo/Cerulean rehearsals for wonderful, generous behavior or for a brilliant comment offered at the perfect time. (VJC Founder Russell Schmidt has always enjoyed clever wordplay...and creative improvisation can take many forms.)
About a month ago, the Indigo Big Band workshopped the idea that we needed a Red sticker to call out the opposite of Green sticker behavior. A 'Valley Jazz Uncooperative' award if you will. Russ had them made—at his own expense!! not through the MSW-Education budget!! everybody relax!!—and the very first recipient is Eddie Galicia.
Congrats(?), Eddie! You know what you did. You KNOW what you did.
04/14/2026
TONIGHT at MCC’s Performing Arts Center… VJC Sapphire (t.a.f.k.a. the East Valley Jazz Cooperative) perform on a concert along with the MCC Jazz Ensemble (directed by Paul Brewer) and the MPJE Jazz Ensemble (led by Nick Manson). The 7:00 p.m. concert will also feature guest saxophonist Sal Lozano (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, the Academy Awards Orchestra, etc.).
COME CHECK IT OUT!
03/27/2026
TONIGHT (3/27)! Saxophonist Jordan Pettay and the VJC Senior Showcase in Jazzbird! Beat the heat in Scottsdale's remarkable Ravenscroft facility, enjoy some great music, and show you support for developing jazz artists in our VJC program. (Three AZ All-State HS Jazz Ensemble members onstage tonight with Jordan, Chris Finet, Adam Clark, and VJC Director Russell Schmidt.)
03/24/2026
It's the VJC Senior Showcase this Friday night in Jazzbird! Come check out a few of our outstanding seniors on the first set, as they each get to play a tune side-by-side with guest artist Jordan Pettay, ably supported by Christ Finet (bass), Adam Clark (drums), and VJC Director Russell Schmidt (piano). After the intermission, Jordan Pettay leads a quartet through a set of her fresh, exciting, and inspirational approach to jazz. COME CHECK IT OUT!
03/07/2026
TONIGHT! C'mon out & support the creative Youth of America™!
