The Shepherd College Jazz Ensemble and Concert Choir recently completed a 10 day trip abroad as America's musical ambassadors.

The 17 member jazz ensemble and the nearly 40 member concert choir received many invitations to perform from hosts around the world, but the invitation from what is considered to be the most prestigious jazz festival in the world in Montreux, Switzerland was the easy choice. The students were joined by over a dozen members of the Friends of Music, a 501c3 organization dedicated to supporting musical excellence at Shepherd.

The Shepherd College Jazz Ensemble garnered an invitation to perform at the jazz festival in Montreux, Switzerland through a very competitive audition process. Recordings of past performances were submitted to the programming committee.

In previous years this festival has hosted the legendary Miles Davis, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and virtually every major jazz name in history. This year saw the likes of George Benson, Dianne Schurr, Patti Austin, Poncho Sanchez, Tuck and Patti and the Shepherd College Jazz Ensemble.

Shepherd played on three different venues, the big band performing on the two main outdoor stages while the jazz combo performed in one of the many jazz clubs.

"I was amazed to see a standing ovation for a college group at the Montreux Festival," said Dr. Alexander Fleming, President of Shepherd's Friends of Music and a physician that traveled with the group. "It was a life-changing experience for these students."

"Perhaps most impressive was the fact that the audiences were huge and that they stayed for each performance in its entirety," says Dr. McCoy, chair of the department and leader of the jazz band. "There is so much jazz happening at any given moment in Montreux that most audience members sample a little of this and a little of that--it is like a constantly moving throng of concert-goers. But for our performances, we had a bigger audience at the end than at the beginning each time."

The Concert Choir also performed in Montruex at St.John's Anglican Church and at the Anglican Church of Koh. "I have never been on a European concert tour with better audiences. These were the largest and most appreciative audiences that I have seen," notes Dr. Kevin Badanes, conductor of the college choir. Both concerts were a resounding success.

The entourage also traveled to Italy where the choir performed in the great cathedrals of Assisi and Rome including St. Peters at the Vatican. A spontaneous performance at St. Mary's of Assisi moved the audience to tears.

"The emotion of performing in such a beautiful and acoustically perfect space was an incredible experience," notes Dr. Badanes.

The groups also performed in the town s of Montecatini and Bagnoregio, Italy. At the combined Jazz and Choir performance in the Bagnoregio the entire town came out to the square to see the Americans and hear their music. At the end, the mayor brought out many bottles of champagne and offered a toast to the groups.

"It was great to serve as good-will ambassadors from the states. We were separated by language in every town, but once the music began, we were all one people. To watch their responses to our music was one of the many highlights of the trip." notes Dr. McCoy.

"We encourage our students to do two things: to commit to excellence and to make their lives extraordinary...." says Dr. McCoy. "On this one trip, we were able to witness both."