OCSA JAZZ
Where passion meets purpose.
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About the school...
OCSA is the premiere public arts school in the greater Orlando area and is a US News & World Reports Top Ranked High School. The band program boasts four Jazz bands, three Jazz combos, three Concert bands, three String Orchestras, and a full Symphony Orchestra, all which consistently earn Superior ratings at FBA District & State Music Performance Assessments. The students of OCSA are highly motivated and dedicated to their art. The music majors are regularly selected to participate in FMEA All-State Ensembles, as well as several illustrious national programs such as YoungArts and NYO.
About the Jazz Program...
The OCSA Jazz curriculum fosters leadership, creativity, and the concept of ‘unique perspective’ through collaboration and teamwork. Each band studies the music of the great Jazz Masters, such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thad Jones, as well as the great musical contributions of Latin-Jazz masters: Machito, Ray Santos and Mario Bauzá. Each band meets every other day for 110 minutes, and the top band (Jazz A) meets every day with one day focusing on Big-Band and the alternating day focusing on small group improvisation. All of the bands perform regularly, however Jazz A boasts a rigorous performing schedule - similar to a travel sports team. The OCSA Jazz program has been transformative for many of our students as several of them have been awarded scholarships to some of our nation’s most prestigious universities & conservatories. Last year alone, two of our graduates received full-tuition scholarships to attend the legendary Juilliard School in New York.
About the Director...
Jason G.M. Anderson is the Director of Jazz Studies at OCSA. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied with legendary saxophonists Bill Pierce, Andy McGhee, George Garzone, and master technician Joe Viola. After college, he was selected by the U.S. State Department to perform as a Jazz Ambassador to North & West Africa in an effort to promote the furthering and awareness of the tradition that is “Jazz”. He has spent time touring with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Illinois Jacquet Big Band as well as performing with many well-known artists such as: Robert Glasper, Natalie Cole, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Elliot Mason, Cyrus Chestnut, Jimmy Greene, Adam Rapa, Jeremy Pelt and Miguel Zenon. In addition to his performance credits, he is also an in-demand arranger, most notably composing the Big-Band arrangement for Christina Aguilera’s 2015 NBA All-Star Performance. He was hired as the Jazz Director at OCSA in August 2021, and within his first year at the school, his top jazz band placed 1st in the 2022 Essentially Ellington competition in New York City. The following year, OCSA placed 1st in the competition again. Since taking over as Jazz Director, he has grown the OCSA Jazz program to four bands across grades 7-12. He is an in-demand clinician and enjoys performing regularly with his wife, jazz vocalist and educator, Monica Lynk Anderson.
