To celebrate its 15th anniversary, a Bolivian youth orchestra invited Juilliard Jazz musicians to spend a week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s largest city.
In August, five Juilliard students, two alums, and jazz piano faculty member Elio Villafranca performed, hosted an open rehearsal, led a workshop, and bonded with the members of Santa Cruz's Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil. Participants included trumpeter Anthony Hervey, bassist Philip Norris, pianist Isaiah Thompson, drummer Charles Goold, and trombonist Kalia Vandever.
The culminating concert began with the jazz ensemble performing a sampler of historical highlights of the jazz canon; it ended with the Juilliard musicians and the youth orchestra performing George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Villafranca at the piano.