Friends of Jazz Award Largest Gift-to-Date to Students and Program

December 23, 2004 :: No. 108

“We believe in keeping jazz alive and this is one way of doing that,” say Friends of Jazz President Bill Klinghofer when asked about the organization’s recent $15,000 gift to Cal State Fullerton’s jazz program. It is the largest donation ever by the nonprofit Fullerton-based group that supports jazz education and young musicians.

Included in the gift were scholarships awarded this month to nine members of Jazz Ensemble I. The presentation was made during a December campus concert program. Receiving $1,000 were Mission Viejo resident Tim Gill (trumpet), Long Beach resident Melissa Halse (alto saxophone), Brian Mantz (trumpet) of Riverside, Ryan Pryor (piano) of Upland and Nick Schaadt (bass) of Lakewood. Awards of $500 were given to Fullerton resident Ben Devitt (trombone), Dan Crain (tenor saxophone) of Anaheim, Sean Macaulay (drums) of La Verne and Byron Panopio of Rancho Santa Margarita.

Directed by Chuck Tumlinson, associate professor of music, CSUF’s jazz program represents some of the finest college musicians on the West Coast. At the 42nd annual Reno Jazz Festival held earlier this year, the Jazz Combo tied for first place in the 4-Year College Combos division, while Jazz Ensemble I placed second out of 25 entries in the 4-Year Big Band category.

“This gift shows a great amount of encouragement to our program, financially and in general,” says Tumlinson. “It’s great to have an organization like the Friends of Jazz, who were a factor in me coming here. They’ve been more than friends of jazz in title — they truly are what they say they are.”

“We believe in keeping jazz alive and this is one way to do that,” adds Klinghofer. “We want to give the program some flexibility to keep and attract students to Cal State Fullerton.”

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