Michael Parkinson

Mike Parkinson is a Kansas City based Artist/Clinician, a KHS America Educational Artist, and an XO Trumpets Performing Artist. Mike has served as a guest performer/conductor/clinician at schools, conferences, and festivals across the United States. He is Director of JAZZ Spoken Here, a post-bop sextet and is the director of the TRINITY Jazz Ensemble, an ecumenical group affiliated with Old Mission United Methodist Church. Mike is the Coordinator of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors-Jamey Aebersold Clinic-Concert Series and the author of BASIE, BEBOP, BALLADS & BLUES, a highly respected jazz ensemble repertoire guide. He presents clinics on entrepreneurship/career development, ensemble techniques (jazz ensembles, combos and wind bands), brass techniques, and jazz improvisation. Mike most recently served as Director of the School of Music at Middle Tennessee State University and toured China twice with the MTSU Jazztet. He has served as the Artistic Director for the International Summer Jazz Academy in Kraków, Poland and was named Amicus Poloniae by the Republic of Poland. He received the Jess Cole Award from the Missouri Association of Jazz Educators and is a Sigma Alpha Iota Friend of the Arts. Mike has performed with American artists including Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Dobbins, Gary Foster, Bobby Watson, and Gary Wittner, with Polish artists including Joachim Mencel, Janusz Muniak, Jacek Niedziela, Dominik Wania, and Leszek Zadlo, and with composers including Robert Cooper, Donald Erb, Mark Phillips, Kim Portnoy, and Paul Osterfield. His primary influences are Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Kenny Werner and Kenny Wheeler. A Tennessee native, Mike holds degrees from the University of North Texas (music education), Kent State University (trumpet), and the University of Cincinnati (conducting) and is married to Charlene Hanson, former director of the Tennessee Philharmonic Chorus. He is a member of the Jazz Education Network, Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors Saint Louis Polonia, the International Relations Council, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, the Missouri Association of Jazz Educators, and the United Methodist Church.

Mike Parkinson has extensive experience directing and working with jazz ensembles, jazz combos, symphonic bands and wind ensembles as a clinician and conductor. As an improviser, he is adept in various traditional and contemporary jazz styles, as well as non-traditional formats. He relates historical figures in jazz to students and audiences, explaining the significance of works being prepared for performance. As a trumpet player, he is highly skilled in jazz and classical music. * Clinics for middle school-university students:

(1) jazz ensemble/jazz combo performance techniques, improvisation (all levels), jazz history/styles

(2) symphonic bands/wind ensembles/chamber music techniques

(3) trumpet/brass master classes.

Clinics for high school and college/university students:

(1) The Entrepreneurial Mindset workshop for students considering careers in music

(2) Developing Personal Musicianship clinic.

Clinics for middle school-college/university band directors:

Basie, Bebop, Ballads and Blues, a workshop on selecting repertoire for the jazz ensemble (all levels), Beyond The Blues, a clinic on jazz score analysis, jazz styles, conducting and rehearsal techniques.

Artist fee: $500 for a full day, $750 including an evening concert, plus accommodations and mileage from Overland Park, Kansas. Additional support may be available from KHS America.

Presentations on the importance of arts education in the schools, elementary-high school levels.

Career opportunities in the arts for high school students and families – an exploration of the WORLD of options for serious music students and how to prepare for success.

The Elements of Jazz – a hands-on presentation for community members on jazz history and its social and musical elements, spotlighting significant jazz artists from Kansas, Missouri, and beyond.

Clinics for middle school-university students:

(1) jazz ensemble/jazz combo performance techniques, improvisation (all levels), jazz history/styles

(2) symphonic bands/wind ensembles/chamber music techniques

(3) trumpet/brass master classes.

Clinics for high school and college/university students:

(1) The Entrepreneurial Mindset workshop for students considering careers in music

(2) Developing Personal Musicianship clinic.

Clinics for middle school-college/university band directors:

Basie, Bebop, Ballads and Blues, a workshop on selecting repertoire for the jazz ensemble (all levels)

Beyond The Blues, a clinic on jazz score analysis, jazz styles, conducting and rehearsal techniques.