2026 Nebraska All-State Jazz BandPAGE QUICK LINKS
2026 ALL-STATE JAZZ BAND CONDUCTOR BIOThe title of his most recent album, Between Two Worlds, Stafford juggles roles as a thriving musician and an acclaimed educator, or as a visionary bandleader and an in-demand sideman for some of the music’s most legendary performers. Perhaps most importantly, he strives to strike that always precarious balance between a professional touring musician and a loving husband and father to his family. As the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Philadelphia’s Temple University, Stafford has become a nurturing mentor to new generations of up-and-coming jazz musicians. He’s helped to guide the university and its students to victories at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jack Rudin Jazz Championship and to grow the school’s Grammy-nominated record label, BCM&D, with recordings by the Temple University Jazz Band (including guest artists Christian McBride, Joey DeFrancesco, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, and Dick Oatts) and all-star ensembles featuring Stafford and his fellow faculty members. Stafford has played a vital role in music by luminaries including Shirley Scott, Charles McPherson, Cedar Walton, Samara Joy, Bobby Watson, McCoy Tyner, Benny Golson, Kenny Barron, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath, and Jon Faddis, He has enjoyed fruitful tenures with the Clayton Brothers band, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts, and Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. 2026 ALL-STATE JAZZ BAND REPERTOIREThe 2026 All-State Jazz Band repertoire will be released in Spring 2026. 2026 ALL-STATE JAZZ BAND AUDITION MATERIALSNMEA will utilize the services of Festival Scores to collect student auditions. Auditions will include:
*Special note for Drummers: ALL drummers will submit the auxiliary percussion audition excerpt instead of having a separate audition for auxiliary percussion. The judge will select a primary drum set player who will mostly play drum kit and possibly some auxiliary percussion, and a secondary drum set player who will mostly play auxiliary percussion and some drum kit. The following audition materials for the 2026 All-State Jazz Band are broken down by instrument. Click each link to download the audition materials. VIBRAPHONE
TRUMPET
TENOR TROMBONE
BASS TROMBONE
PIANO
GUITAR
DRUM KIT & AUX PERCUSSION
BASS (ACOUSTIC OR ELECTRIC)
BARI SAX
TENOR SAX
ALTO SAX
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perfectly encapsulates the boundary-crossing life and career of renowned trumpet player, composer, and educator Terell Stafford. Hailed as “one of the great players of our time” by the late piano icon McCoy Tyner, Stafford unites any number of dichotomies in his music: jazz and classical traditions, stunning virtuosity and profound emotion, stylistic eclecticism and an immediately identifiable voice.
