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Three years ago, singer ���ܳ�í�� was a finalist at the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, and the first Mexican artist to enter the contest. When it came time to select the song that she would perform in the final round, she picked a standard that reflected her musical sensibility, colored in equal parts by the beauty of jazz and the Latin American songbook. “We played ‘What a Difference a Day Makes,’ which was popularized by Dinah Washington, but in its initial incarnation was a bolero written in Spanish by María Grever,” she says from her home in New York City. “We started it as a jazz ballad in English, then switched to Spanish and added some zapateado dancing.” “What a Difference a Day Makes” is now the opening cut of the self-titled ���ܳ���́��, an exquisite debut album that showcases the luminous qualities of her voice, and her superb technique and versatility.

With the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and �������ý��Ƶ jazz faculty

Ari Hoenig is a jazz drummer, composer, and educator known for his unusual and intense approach to drumming emphasizing complex rhythms in direct harmony with other group members. Hoenig is widely noted particularly for his drumming not being relegated to just keeping tempo or being a side issue to the music he plays in, but rather for elevating drumming as an indispensable part of the performance. The LU Jazz Ensemble will be under the direction of Patty Darling ’85.

Mathew Buchman, professor and director of jazz studies at UW-Stevens Point, received his M.M. in Improvisation from the University of Michigan and his B.M. in composition and theory (jazz emphasis) from �������ý��Ƶ.

Additional studies have included composition with Lyle Mays, and jazz piano with John Harmon.

Since becoming director of jazz studies in 2000, Buchman has been instrumental in the growth of the program at UW-Stevens Point. Buchman’s students have been selected for Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead; won awards such as the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and earned graduate teaching positions at Indiana University, UT-Austin, and the University of Northern Colorado. Mr. Buchman teaches jazz improvisation, composition/arranging, and jazz piano. As the director of the award-winning UWSP Jazz Ensemble, he has worked with John Scofield, Matt Wilson, The Yellowjackets, Bobby McFerrin, Kurt Elling, and Wynton Marsalis. Buchman has also served as faculty leader while teaching abroad in London.

Buchman’s performance experience is diverse. In addition to leading his own trio, he has performed with Karrin Allyson, Karl Berger, Tom Gullion, Randy Sabien, Michael Formanek, Tom Varner, and Matt Turner. Buchman has toured all over the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has twice performed on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Elvehjem, recorded with Ed Sarath, Bob Kase, singer-songwriter L.J. Booth, Jay Whitney, and Tom Washatka.

José L. Encarnación leads the jazz improvisation classes, directs the LU Jazz Band, coaches jazz small groups, teaches applied jazz saxophone, coordinates the jazz performance program and Chairs the Jazz & Improvisational Music Department and The Bachelor of Musical Arts Program at the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music. He studied saxophone, flute and clarinet at the Free School of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated magna cum laude, and received his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music (including the 2002 Schirmer Prize in Jazz Performance). He previously served as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music, Instructor of Saxophone, Latin Jazz Performance Workshop, and Youth Saxology for the Eastman Community School, and as Jazz Ensemble Conductor at the Rochester (NY) School of the Arts. Learn more about José Encarnación.

Bill Carrothers has been a professional pianist for more than 40 years. He has played many venues throughout the U.S. and Europe including the The Village Vanguard, Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Monterey Jazz Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Audi Jazz Festival, the Nevers Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, AngraJazz, and the Marciac Festival in France. In October of 2000, Mr. Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Learn more about Bill Carrothers.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.

Mark Urness is a versatile bassist, composer, and educator. His diverse performance experience encompasses orchestral, chamber, solo, and jazz playing. He is an associate professor of music at �������ý��Ƶ in Appleton, Wisconsin and the principal bassist of the Weidner Center Philharmonic Orchestra. His playing on the unaccompanied jazz album, Foreground, was described by Bass World magazine as “completely in command of the instrument and the tunes, rife with good ideas, melodic instinct, and groove.” Recent performances include chamber music broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, concerto performances as guest soloist with the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra, a solo recital at the 2018 ISB convention, and jazz performances with Bill Carrothers, Danilo Perez, Peter Erskine, and Joe Locke. Learn more about Mark Urness.

Before graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Tim Albright began recording and touring with alto saxophonist, Steve Coleman. Shortly after, he moved to New York where he lived for seventeen years. Tim loves just about every genre of music, and in New York, he was lucky to have played, toured and/or recorded with an eclectic mix of artists including the Metropolitan Opera, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dafnis Prieto, Steve Lehman, Miguel Zenon, Jay-Z, Barbara Streisand, Sufjan Stevens, and the National. He was also a pit musician for many, many Broadway productions. He was a member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet for fifteen years, and recently toured with the American Brass Quintet performing the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s breathtaking Book of Brass. Learn more about Tim Albright.

Matt Turner is widely regarded as one of the world's leading improvising cellists. Equally skilled as a pianist, Turner performs in numerous styles and has shared the stage in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster, avant-garde musicians Marilyn Crispell, Peter Kowald, Guillermo Gregorio, Scott Fields, and John Butcher, as well as country musician Wanda Vick, singer-songwriter LJ Booth, and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin to name a few. He appears on over 100 recordings on Sketch/Harmonia Mundi, Illusions, Music and Arts, Accurate, Polyvinyl, Cadence Jazz and others, recording with jazz violinist Randy Sabien, goth vocalist/pianist Jo Gabriel, singer/songwriters Mark Croft and Tret Fure, punk artist Kyle Fischer, Kitty Brazelton's chamber rockestra Dadadah, alt-country band Heller Mason, and with the Pointless Orchestra. Learn more about Matt Turner.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.