Karl Stabnau of Brighton is this year’s recipient of the Rochester International Jazz Festival/Eastman School of Music scholarship. He will start his studies in jazz saxophone at Eastman School and in physics in the University’s Colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering this fall.
For the past four years, Stabnau has taken lessons at the Eastman Community Music School, studying classical saxophone with Chien-Kwan Lin and jazz saxophone with Jose Encarnacion.
“Karl is an exemplary student who excels in both music and academics,” said Howard Potter, associate dean for community and continuing education. “He has studied the masters and is quickly finding his own voice.”
Stabnau started saxophone lessons in the fourth grade at French Road Middle School and guitar lessons the following year. At Brighton High School, he played in the wind ensemble, jazz band, symphonic band, concert bands, and pit orchestra for theater productions, and volunteered to teach improvisation techniques to young jazz ensemble players. In addition to his musical activities, Stabnau competed on the varsity cross country and golf teams.
This year was the sixth year that RIJF producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona have sponsored the scholarship, noted Potter.
“The scholarship has helped so many of our area high school students who have been part of the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra and then gone on to Eastman,” said Potter. “For our EYJO students, playing at the Eastman Scholarship night in the Eastman Theatre during the Rochester International Jazz Festival has become a high point of our year.”
Attending the presentation of the RIJF/ESM Scholarship were, from left: Marc Iacona and John Nugent, Rochester International Jazz Festival producers; Howard Potter, associate dean for community and continuing education; scholarship recipient Karl Stabnau; and Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy. (Photo by Gary Geer.)
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