Tri-C JazzFest Academy

Tri-C JazzFest Academy

The Tri-C JazzFest Academy offers performance-based programs for students ages 8 to 18 at every stage of their musical development. We believe that access to the rich musical culture of jazz and improvisation develops creativity, discipline, teamwork, empathy, lifelong curiosity and learning. The academy's ensembles have been featured at the Next Gen Stage at Playhouse Square, in New York City at Jazz at Lincoln Center and throughout the Cleveland area.

The academy is led by internationally acclaimed musician and educator Dominick Farinacci, a former Tri-C student and graduate of The Juilliard School, as well as a faculty of noted artists and educators. The Tri-C JazzFest Academy and Summer Camp make up the educational division of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, presented by KeyBank, one of America's premier educational jazz festivals that provides unprecedented access to master classes and clinics led by the world's most celebrated jazz artists.

Tri-C JazzFest Academy Programs

More than 90% of the 2021 and 2022 JazzFest Academy graduates continued their studies at prestigious four-year music schools, including:

• Berklee College of Music
• Case Western Reserve University
• University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music
• Manhattan School of Music
• The New School
• Oberlin Conservatory of Music
• Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
• Rice University's Shepherd School of Music
• University of Miami's Frost School of Music
• University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music

Tri-C JazzFest Academy programs primarily take place at the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts on the College's Metropolitan Campus in downtown Cleveland.

Learn more about each Tri-C JazzFest Academy program below, and register today.

We are committed to providing access to jazz education for all students. Financial aid and hardship assistance are available to those who qualify. Email jazzfestacademy@tri-c.edu for more information.

About the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts

Tommy LiPuma was one of the most successful pop and jazz producers of all time, with 36 gold and platinum records, 36 Grammy nominations and five Grammy Awards to his credit. During his 50 years in the business, he sold more than 75 million records and produced for legendary artists such as Diana Krall, Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Sir Paul McCartney and Leon Russell.

Learn more about Tommy LiPuma and the Center for Creative Arts.

About the Faculty

Dominick Farinacci, Director/Trumpet

At 15 years old, trumpeter Dominick Farinacci enrolled in Tri-C's Saturday jazz program. Two years later, following a visit from Wynton Marsalis and his band, he was invited to New York City to appear on PBS with Marsalis, Trombone Shorty and Brandon Lee.

The 2005 Juilliard graduate launched his career in Japan with a prolific run of eight albums, later releasing four more globally. He has performed in more than 120 cities in 14 countries. A featured speaker at the 2014 TEDMED Conference in Washington, D.C., he has also appeared on ABC's Good Morning America. As music icon Quincy Jones has said of Farinacci's accomplishments in performance, recording, education and advocacy, “This kid is 360 degrees!” 

Today, Farinacci serves as the director of the Tri-C JazzFest Academy, a year-round pre-college program housed at the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts. His 2016 recording, Short Stories, was produced by four-time Grammy winner Tommy LiPuma and featured Jacob Collier, Christian McBride and Steve Gadd.

As the ambassador to Jazz at Lincoln Center Qatar from 2013 to 2015, Farinacci worked to further integrate music into communities around the world in culturally collaborative ways.

He has also found success in his personal endeavors to bring music into the community through arts, wellness and education. Alongside U.S. Army veteran Jaymes Poling, Farinacci co-founded Modern Warrior LIVE, an immersive musical and narrative experience that details Poling's story of combat in Afghanistan and highlights the growth that can come through experiencing trauma.

Anthony Taddeo, Drums

Anthony Taddeo is a drummer, composer and ODP performing artist currently performing throughout Cleveland and New York.

Early on in his musical career he studied with world renown percussionist Jamey Haddad before moving to New York City in 2009 to further pursue his musical career at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. While studying at The New School, Taddeo studied with masters such as: Jimmy Cobb, Kendrick Scott, Vic Juris, George Cables and Reggie Workman. In 2011, Taddeo graduated with honors from The New School and immediately began performing with a wide variety of artists from all genres of music including: Dan Tepfer, Frank Wess, Ron McClure, Amber Rubarth, Dave Edgar, Lora-Faye Whelan, Joel Schmirnoff, Rachel Brotman and Charles Giordano. He has also recently performed with Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor and singer Steve Kazee to sold out crowds at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club and 54 Below in New York City.

Taddeo is an active composer and arranger for multiple music projects in NYC along with his own percussion experiment called “kitchen table music.” He is currently endorsed by “Out of the Drawer Percussion” as a performing artist.

Dave Sterner, Saxophone

Dave Sterner is one of Northern Ohio's most sought-after saxophonists and jazz educators. Sterner has spent more than 25 years mastering his horn as a professional musician and developing a consistent model on how to teach jazz. Today, with over 120-plus gigs a year, Sterner is a regular in several bands, including Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band and Red Light Roxy. Additionally, Sterner leads a trio, quartet and quintet under his own name, as the venue warrants. Sterner also performs with other Northeast Ohio groups, such as the East Central Jazz Educators All-Star Big Band, the Park Place Band, the Blue Lunch Blues Band, Joe Bell and the Swing Lizards and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, among others.

As a recording artist and composer, Sterner has released two albums, What's What (2006) and Sidetracked (2011), as the leader of the Dave Sterner Quintet. The quintet won the Best Jazz Band award from the Cleveland Free Times, and Sterner has claimed the Best Horn title from the Cleveland Scene magazine. He appears as a featured soloist on all three albums by Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band: Perdido (1997), The Band That Swings (1999) and Body & Soul (2006). He also appears on the N. Glenn Davis Quartet's A Different View and the N. Glenn Davis Quintet's Come Right In, featuring Phil Woods. In addition, he has recorded with the East Central Jazz Educators All-Star Big Band, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra and Tony Cuda's Jazz Cats.

Sterner also freelances with national acts performing in town, playing jazz, show tunes, blues, rock and pop music. Among many others, he has performed with Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr., the Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band and David Sanborn.

As a part-time jazz faculty member at Tri-C since 2007, Sterner has taught an array of classes that include Ear Training, Jazz Theory, Arranging, Improvisation and Music Skills. He also directed the Lakeland Community College Civic Jazz Orchestra and co-directed the Lakeland Jazz Festival from 2008-2020. He has been a clinician for the Lakeland Jazz Festival, Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, Ashland University’s Maple Rock Jazz Festival, the College of Wooster and several local high schools.

Johnny Cochran, Saxophone

A product of Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s best and most respected musicians and a native of Cleveland’s southwest side, saxophonist Johnny Cochran was a music lover at an early age. Through his music, he aims to share his life story of growing up in Cleveland.

As a child, Cochran was active in gospel music, playing the drums in church and singing in the choir. Later, he started playing saxophone in elementary school, which opened the door for jazz education. He attended the Cleveland School of the Arts and Tri-C simultaneously during high school, studying saxophone with the legendary Ernie Krivda and finding mentorship in many other local Cleveland players. While furthering his training at the Oberlin Conservatory, he has remained an active professional performing in the Cleveland area with bands such as Mojo: The Generations Big Band, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra, Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band and the Swing City Band.

He has had the opportunity to perform with world-renowned artists such as Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Sean Jones and many others. He is also currently a member of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Paul Ferguson. Cochran studied with Gary Bartz at the Oberlin Conservatory and graduated in May 2013. In addition to the saxophone, he is proficient on the piano, drums and various woodwind instruments. In his music, Cochran creates a sound that is all his own, blending modern ideas with the sounds of his upbringing.

From jazz to hip-hop, from Duke Ellington to Michael Jackson, Cochran and New Sound was formed with the idea of fusing the traditional and modern genres of music into one setting. Each of the players in the band has a unique voice and their own story to tell, and when they come together, they create a fresh and uplifting sound.

Bryan Thomas, Bass

Bryan Thomas is a full-time professional musician based in the fertile music community of Northeast Ohio. He comes from a background of classical and jazz bass traditions and has sought out musical interactions in as many cultures as possible. Expanding into the worlds of dance, pop, folk and Caribbean ensembles, Thomas’ favorite music is anything conversational, with both musicians and audiences involved. In addition to being a sought-after sideman for decades, Thomas is expanding his roles as an arranger, music director, composer and recording artist.

Thomas’ many firsthand experiences and lessons with giants of the double bass have shaped his approach to the instrument —notably, soloists Gary Karr and François Rabbath; Cleveland Orchestra bassists Anthony Knight, Scott Haigh and Mark Atherton; jazz legend Ray Brown and Cuban bassist Carlos del Puerto. After earning his Bachelor of Music in music performance at Kent State University, he spent many years as a road musician, touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as a staff musician on Norwegian Cruise Lines and as a freelance copyist and musician in Germany.

Since 1996, Thomas has been based in Northeast Ohio as a freelance musician, teacher and recording artist. Check out his recent recordings with the dynamic Americana/folk/rock group Hey Mavis, singer and producer Helen Welch, and wife and hammered dulcimer artist Tina Bergmann. Since 2000, Thomas has been an adjunct professor of double bass at Kent State University, as well as maintaining a private studio for students from as young as 5 years old to current professionals. He has been on the faculty at the Tri-C JazzFest Academy since 2021.

SUMMER CAMP

SUMMER CAMP 

Participants in the intensive two-week JazzFest Academy Summer Camp have opportunities to play in big band, small group and jam sessions, interact with summer JazzFest artists, and attend all performances of the Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland at Playhouse Square. The camp culminates in a series of featured performances during JazzFest weekend on the Next Gen Stage.

Camp classes and events include:

• Big band and small group rehearsals
• Music theory and composition
• Improvisation
• Sectional workshops
• Master classes with local and national artists
• Performances at JazzFest and in the community

Ages: 8 to 18
Experience Level: All levels welcome*
Cost: $400
*Registered students must submit a music placement video to determine their level of playing in camp ensembles and classes.

SUMMER 2025 SCHEDULE
Length: 2 weeks
Day/Time: Monday through Friday | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Dates: June 16 – 28, 2025
Location: Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts, Metropolitan Campus, Cleveland
Final Performances: June 27 – 28, 2025
Performance Location: Next Gen Stage**, Playhouse Square, Cleveland

**Registered student ensemble performances will be announced on the first day of camp.

Thank you for your interest in the 2025 Tri-C JazzFest Camp. JazzFest Camp registration opens during the spring semester.

Proudly supported by