JazzU with Sharel Cassity

Join the top two groups from Jazz St. Louis’ acclaimed JazzU program as they perform alongside saxophone great Sharel Cassity. JazzU is a weekly program for talented middle and high school musicians that focuses on improvisation, combo playing, jazz repertoire, and music theory. The students taking the stage for these performances are some of the finest young musicians in the region, including many who participated in the Missouri All-State Jazz Band and other prestigious auditioned groups.

Saxophonist, Woodwindist, Composer & Educator Sharel Cassity is a musician on the New York, Chicago and international jazz scenes. Listed as “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” in Downbeat Magazine for the past 9 consecutive years, Sharel has appeared on the Today Show, earned her MA from The Juilliard School under full scholarship, won the 2007 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award & has been inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. Cassity has shared the stage with jazz luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; as well as mainstream artists Aretha Franklin, Natalie Merchant, Vanessa Williams & Trisha Yearwood. She has released four albums as a bandleader and appeared on over 30 as a sideman, toured 24 countries and performed at leading venues like the Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival & the North Sea Jazz Festival.