Tubaist Ralph Hepola Wins Major Grant

[RalphHepola]

John Stites Jazz Awards of Michigan has awarded a major grant to Ralph Hepola to fund a May tour. As a musician who plays the language of contemporary jazz on the tuba, Hepola is totally focused on ‘a new and innovative approach’ which was required by the JSJA application guidelines. The applications were scored by an independent Review Committee composed of professional jazz musicians with national and international experience. The winning projects focused on expanding the audience for jazz, while celebrating the diverse national and international influences on the music and identifying opportunities to capitalize on the intergenerational and cross-cultural appeal of jazz.

Only three applicants won awards. The other two were New York City pianist/singer Judy Carmichael whom Count Basie nicknamed “Stride”, and CityMusic Cleveland which will produce a jazz documentary. JSJA has awarded over $280,000 in the last 4 years.

Hepola will tour with Kansas City-born veteran guitarist John Strickler, Nashville bassist Seth Darby and up-and-coming drummer Daniel Pasquale. The tour, entitled “Take in a Jazz Festival this Summer!” will publicize ten major Upper Midwest jazz festivals including the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hepola’s hometown. The group will perform in smaller communities, which have limited exposure to live jazz and no jazz festival.

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https://ralphhepola.com/

[OhioTubaGuy]

Congrats Ralph!