Kyle Simpson and the W&J Jazz Combo at the WJS Brunch
March 11, 2018
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Presidents Pub
On March 11 be sure to check out the Washington and Jefferson Jazz Combo led by Kyle Simpson at the WJS Jazz Brunch at the Presidents Pub. Enjoy great live jazz over brunch! Bloody Marys, bottomless mimosas, and Great brunch selections. As always it's free to attend.
About Kyle Simpson
Kyle Simpson, composer, trumpet player, and bandleader, is a graduate from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI and The University of Montana in Missoula, MT. His main composition teachers were Fred Sturm at Lawrence and Charles Nichols at The University of Montana. Simpson has written many works for large jazz groups, chamber jazz groups, solo trumpet, synthesized electronic music, Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble. Recent compositions were featured at the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival in Missoula, where he also performed with Lew Soloff and Paquito D'Rivera. Other compositions have been featured at the Fête de la Musique Ile d'Yeu (2011) and Ostrava Days (2011). Simpson’s music has been described as, “lively with rhythmic vitality” and also, “lyrical with a brooding elegance.”
In 2005, he studied with Dave Douglas and other great contemporary jazz artists in Banff, Canada at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2006, Simpson was awarded an ASCAP Scholarship to study at the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, CA, where he worked with Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Jack Smalley, and Bruce Broughton. Simpson’s work Autumn Fields was scored for chamber orchestra and was premiered in Schoenberg Hall at UCLA and conducted by Vince Mendoza. Kyle Simpson has also worked with the Universal Studio orchestra in creating new library music.
In 2007, Simpson went on tour with the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra as a split soloist and arranger under the direction of Larry O’Brien. Simpson also produced and arranged The Very Thought of You, album by the male vocalist, Ryan Garfi, of the same band.
Recently, Simpson was awarded the Michael Iovenko Fellowship to study composition at the Ecole Normale De Musique in Paris, France. In June 2011, he was also awarded the Film Music Foundation Scholarship for the NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in New York. Simpson just finished a recording project with the Czech Radio Symphony Brass Quintet and String Quartet, in recording new pieces written for those ensembles. In August 2011, Simpson conducted his own composition Journey Into Wissamekingwith the Janaček Philharmonic, in Ostrava, CZ. Currently, Simpson is Assistant Professor of Music at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA. His duties include directing the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and teaching trumpet.
