SUNY Fredonia Jazz Program Wins Outstanding Performance Award for Second Time

The State University of New York at Fredonia's Jazz Studies program recently won an award from a music magazine for a second time. The Fredonia Jazz Flextet, an ensemble with different instrument combinations and up to 12 musicians, won DownBeat magazine's 2022 award for Outstanding Performance by a College Large Jazz Ensemble, just three years after the New Jazz Ensemble received the same award. Assistant Professor Nick Weiser, who directed the Jazz Studies program since 2017, says winning the award a second time is "really validating"...

Nick Weiser: what we're doing here is working

Weiser adds that it's one of DownBeat magazine's most competitive categories because every major jazz program in the country has a flagship large jazz ensemble. He created the Flextet when he recognized that rehearsing a full 18-piece jazz ensemble wasn't an option due to COVID-19 restrictions based on room sizes and the number of people who could be in one place at any given time.

Photo by SUNY Fredonia