GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHY & PERSONNEL
Durham, New Hampshire. A native of Bloomington, IN, Rachel‟s compelling
improvisation skills developed out of her many years of instrumental jazz studies on piano
and as a cellist under IU Distinguished Professor David Baker. A student of Baker‟s from
age 13, Caswell continued her studies at Indiana University‟s Jacobs School of Music
graduating with High Distinction in 1995 with degrees in classical cello and jazz studies.
In 1998 she completed her Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies in Voice Boston‟s New
England Conservatory of Music. While in graduate school, Rachel was chosen as one of
two vocalists for the 1997 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Colony at Jazz Aspen/
Snowmass and named the winner of the 1997 Hilton Head Jazz Society Scholarship.
Rachel also placed in the top ten out of 150 contestants in the 2005 jazzconnect.com
annual vocal competition, appearing in one judge‟s top five. Rachel was filmed as the
featured vocalist in John McNeil‟s Jazz Series on Video, Vol. 3 Vocal Jazz: Learning to
Scat with Mr. McNeil as trumpeter/host and Rufus Reid on bass. Rachel‟s unique gifts as
a musician and improviser have led jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen to say, “Very rarely does
such a complete musician come along in the form of a singer! Rachel and her voice are
capable of expression and artistry that parallel those of some of the great horn players in
improvised jazz music...”
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
School of Music
JAZZ ENSEMBLE III
SAXOPHONE
Steven Moeller
Ethan Crenshaw
Sam Lock
Emily Miller
Nolan Leahy
TRUMPET
Connor Freimuth
Connor Fox
Demetrius Peoples
Chris Cheever
TROMBONE
Kyle Jones
Michel Culross
Lindsay Baker
Austin Hamang
PIANO
Kelsey Georgesen
BASS
Dan Sitler
DRUMS
Nick Hammer
D‟Quan Rogers
twenty-ninth season
Presents
STUDIO JAZZ ENSEMBLE II
SAXOPHONE
Tim Hoblin
Luke Fries
James Ryan
Thomas Lucas
Andrew Campbell
THE ART OF JAZZ SERIES
TRUMPET
Brett Affolder
Brandon Hazelbaker
Jay Higginson
Amelia Scanland
TROMBONE
Kohl Slabaugh
Zach Whitacre
David Rohrer
Holden Berlin
BASS
Dustin Palmer
HORN
Matt Ertl
Jordan Miller
PIANO
Brandon Downing
VIBES/BELLS
Nick Hammer
DRUMS
Alex Balestra
GUEST ARTISTS
Sara Caswell, violin
Rachel Caswell, vocalist
GUITAR
Zach Day
JAZZ LAB ENSEMBLE I
SAXOPHONE
Cecily Terhune
Brian Bosley
James Middleton
John Horgeshimer
Kaleigh Wilder
TRUMPET
Sam Brock
Jen Siukola
Adam Marchand
Alec Burke
TROMBONE
Dominic Gaietto
David Daily
Dan Smith
Daniel Payton
PIANO
Jon Nelson
VIOLIN
Gina Buzzelli
BASS
Jesse Gaze
GUITAR
Sam Gordon
DRUMS
Danny Yount
BALL STATE JAZZ ENSEMBLES
Mark Buselli, director
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 | 7:30 p.m. | SURSA HALL
PROGRAM
JAZZ ENSEMBLE III
Jess Gaze, director
Program will contain selections from the following:
Al Kiger
Heart of Mine
Kenbrovin/Kellette
I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
STUDIO JAZZ ENSEMBLE II
Scott Routenberg, director
Program will contain selections from the following:
Howard Levy
Arr. Scott Routenberg
One For McCoy
Horace Silver
Arr. Rob McConnell
Strollin’
Frank Mantooth
Take Only for Pain
JAZZ LAB ENSEMBLE I
Mark Buselli, director
Program will contain selections from the following:
Oliver Nelson
Hoe Down
Johnny Burke/
Jimmy van Heusen
Arr. Michael Patterson
But Beautiful
Hoagy Carmichael
Arr. Alan Ferber
I Get Along Without You Very Well
Nancy King
Arr. Alan Ferber
I Sing For You
Walter Hirsch/
Fred Rose
Arr. Count Basie
Deed I Do
Series LXIX- Number 217
In keeping with copyright and artist agreements, use of recording
and photographic devices is not permitted by other than approved university personnel. Food and
drink are prohibited in all concert halls. We request your cooperation.
www.bsu.edu
GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Sara Caswell is fast becoming one of today‟s foremost jazz violinists through her technical
facility and gift for lyricism. Recognized as a “Rising Star” in both the 2013 and 2014
DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll and as one of the top jazz violinists in both the 2011 and
2012 JazzTimes Readers‟ Poll, Sara leads two groups (the Sara Caswell Quartet and the
Caswell Sisters Quintet), has released two highly-acclaimed CDs (First Song and But
Beautiful), and in 2013 released a new CD with her sister, jazz vocalist Rachel Caswell,
entitled Alive in the Singing Air featuring jazz pianist Fred Hersch. Additionally, Sara
regularly performs with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro, mandolinist Joe
Brent‟s 9 Horses, clarinetist David Krakauer‟s The Big Picture, and the genre-defying
quartet Rose & the Nightingale. During 2010-11, she toured five continents with 3-time
Grammy-winning bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding in support of Spalding‟s CD Chamber
Music Society. Sara has also toured with Grammy-winning violinist Mark O‟Connor„s
American String Celebration and violinist Darol Anger‟s Four Generations of Jazz Violin,
soloed numerous times in Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, and performed
or recorded with such artists as Regina Carter, Gene Bertoncini, Alan Ferber, Oscar Penas,
Ike Sturm, Fabian Almazan, Nadje Noordhuis, Lynne Arriale, Charlie Byrd, and Skitch
Henderson. Sara‟s formidable teaching experience includes the Manhattan School of Music
College and Precollege Divisions, the Mark O‟Connor String Camps, the Jamey Aebersold
Summer Jazz Workshops, the Indiana University String Academy, and a private studio. She
has also given numerous jazz string improvisation workshops and masterclasses and is
involved with JEN (Jazz Education Network), MENC (National Association of Music
Education), and ASTA (American String Teachers Association). Raised in a musical family,
Sara began playing violin at age 5, studied with two legendary giants (Josef Gingold ~
classical, David Baker ~ jazz), made her orchestral debut at 15, earned degrees from Indiana
University and Manhattan School of Music, and amassed over 100 awards in the jazz and
classical competition worlds. Jazz educator, author, and critic Dr. Herb Wong says: “A
gifted starbright talent of the first magnitude, Sara is a top tier member of the young
generation of major voices.”
Jazz Vocalist Rachel Caswell is an award-winning jazz vocalist with a unique style
combining extraordinary scatting ability and sensitive song interpretation. According to
internationally-renowned jazz pedagogue David Baker, “Rachel Caswell is that rara avis
who is truly a jazz vocalist. Her intonation is impeccable, her diction precise, her jazz
sensibilities above reproach, and she swings like mad!” All these qualities can be heard on
her debut CD Some Other Time with pianist Lynne Arriale, drummer Steve Davis, bassist
Kelly Sill, and violinist Sara Caswell. Rachel and her sister Sara co-lead the Caswell Sisters
Quintet, which has recorded a soon-to-be released CD project with acclaimed pianist Fred
Hersch. Notable appearances of the Caswell Sisters include a weeklong After-Hours
engagement at Dizzy‟s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York and an enthusiasticallyreceived set on the opening night concert of the 2010 inaugural Jazz Education Network
Conference in St. Louis. Rachel also frequently collaborates with bassist Jeremy Allen, a
duo selected to perform at the 2006 International Association for Jazz Education‟s Annual
Conference in New York. Other notables with whom Rachel has performed include The
Glenn Miller Orchestra, John Blake, Jr., Ingrid Jensen, the Billy Taylor Trio, and Curtis
Fuller. In addition to Dizzy‟s Club Coca-Cola, Rachel has appeared at the Blue Wisp Jazz
Club in Cincinnati, OH, Cornelia Street Café in New York, NY, the Jazz Cabaret Series at
the Kentucky Center of the Arts in Louisville, KY, colleges and universities including
Temple University, University of Denver, Vassar College, Depauw University, Hope
College, University of Evansville, Eastern Illinois University, West Virginia State
University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Indiana State University, as well as
with big bands in Fargo, ND and Minneapolis, MN, the latter with charts commissioned by
the Caswell Sisters. Rachel‟s pedagogical experience includes jazz-related masterclasses and
clinics at numerous colleges and universities nationwide, most recently serving as a judge
and clinician at the University of New Hampshire for the 2011 Clark Terry Jazz Festival in