The World Jazz and Intercultural Improvisation Ensemble and the Charles Mingus Ensemble will be performing well-known jazz standards as well as compositions by the faculty directors and the students.

The World Jazz and Intercultural Improvisation Ensemble is directed by Steven Loza, who is currently chair of the Global Jazz Studies Interdepartmental Programs and also a professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA. He is also a trumpet player who has performed a great amount of jazz and Latin jazz. He has recorded three CDs on the Merrimack label and has produced numerous concerts and arts festivals internationally.

The Charles Mingus Ensemble is directed by saxophonist and composer Hitomi Oba. Hailed as a “…remarkably versatile L.A. musician with a penchant for crossing all over the musical place” and “powerfully inventive” by the LA Times, Oba has written and arranged, while also playing, for jazz contexts including the Los Angeles Asian American Jazz Festival, Kenny Burrell’s Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, and the Jon Jangtet, as well as for classical new music settings.