Civic Jazz Live! is the opening act for the DSO’s Paradise Jazz Series, featuring student musicians from the Civic Youth Ensemble’s Civic Jazz Orchestra, directed by Vincent Chandler. Join us in The Cube before the show!

Civic Jazz Orchestra is the select jazz ensemble in CYE, comprised of students across the Metro-Detroit area. Students in CJO have performed in MSBOA All-State Jazz, Detroit Jazz Festival, and gig frequently in the Southeast Michigan Area.

Vincent Chandler, director, is a trombonist and native Detroiter, working with CYE since 2013. He is a protégé of Detroit’s great jazz scene and has studied or performed with local heroes like Donald Walden, Kenn Cox, Marcus Belgrave, James Carter, Marion Hayden, Regina Carter, and Rodney Whitaker.

Chandler has also performed internationally with jazz legends such as Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove, Ravi Coltrane, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and many others. In 2014 he released Embraceable, his first album as a bandleader.

Chandler earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. He is now a Lecturer in Jazz Studies at Wayne State University.