This year, the University School Jazz Ensemble, directed by David Kay, will be presenting a groundbreaking event: A Composers’ Forum! During this event, the Ensemble will showcase premieres of compositions from at least three of its members. Anand Stephens, a senior, has been diligently working under the Strnad Fellowship, a unique opportunity provided by the Strnad family at University School. This fellowship supports selected students pursuing projects in science, technology, the arts, and other fields. Alongside Stephens’ compositions, senior guitarist Julian Berger will present an original piece.

Tickets to attend this concert in person are $15 each. This event will also be livestreamed on BOP STOP's YouTube page at showtime. Accessing the stream is free but donations are encouraged and directly support the band. To donate, select "Donation: Livestream Attendee" (which is a $10 blanket ticket price) as your Ticket Option above.

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University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio, on the east side of the Cleveland Metro area, offers a Jazz Ensemble that explores the full range of jazz styles found throughout the over century-long history of jazz, from its origins to avant-garde and funk. Students regularly contribute compositions to the US Jazz repertoire. U.S. jazz groups have played at many NEO-area venues including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nighttown, The Bop Stop, Brothers Lounge, Tower City, Renaissance Hotel, The Hermit Club, Landerhaven and the Cleveland Grand Prix parade. U.S. jazz ensembles have also performed in conjunction with the Tri-C Jazz Festival, being favorably critiqued by such jazz royalty as Gary Burton and Louis Hayes. In the 1990s the Ensemble won Third Place at the Down Beat Jazz Festival in Orlando, receiving recognition in an issue of that magazine. Additionally, as guest soloists with the Ensemble, they have featured the likes of Jamey Aebersold and former Miles Davis saxophonist Sam Morrison, performed in New Orleans’ famous Preservation Hall, and performed at the 2017 Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conference.

Having taught at University School since 1988, director David Kay is a former instructor in the world-renowned Jazz Studies Department at Indiana University, as well as a former faculty member (31 years) in the jazz program at the Interlochen Arts Camp, and a professional musician besides (having played with Aretha Franklin, Benny Golson and The Temptations among many others). US graduates of Kay’s have continued their music making in college and afterward. Some have attended Interlochen and the Jamey Aebersold jazz camps in the summers; others have majored in music at schools such as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Carleton College, University of Southern California, and the Ohio State University.