Tag: Don Keranen

Don Keranen Jazz Awards 2024-25

Each year, excellence in Jazz is recognized by way of the Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Scholarship. Three students are chosen by their peers in recognition of improvement, excellence, and leadership. Our award winners this year include The Jazz Lab Band’s drummer Nico Chua, Trombonist from the Workshop Brass Band Ethan Deur, and Tenor Saxophonist from the R&D Jazz Band (who also plays bass in the Jazz Lab Band) Aidan Conrade. 

These students all showed leadership, dedication, and excellence, this year. We are grateful for them, and wish them continued success in the coming years. 

Director of Jazz Studies, Adam Meckler
Jazz Faculty, Drew Kilpela
Nico Chua playing the drums

Nico is a second year mechanical engineering major. He has been playing instruments since he was very young and has played drums for over a decade now. He got into the Lab Band at Michigan Tech as a first year and continues to play in this group as well as a few groups with other Tech students. 

Ethan Duer smiling

Ethan Deur is a fifth year Human Factors major and has spent all five of those years as a part of the Workshop Brass Band. He’s been playing trombone for almost 14 years, and would love to play more in the future. Outside of music, his hobbies include playing video games and spending time with his friends.

Aidan Conrade on Sound board

Aidan Conrade is a graduating Sound Design major with a minor in Music Composition. They have been participating in the MTU Jazz department and working on projects with the Visual and Performing Arts department for five years now. Since joining music at Tech, they have played in every ensemble in the Jazz department and have helped run the Video Game Music Ensemble, a fully student-led group of musicians who get together weekly in campus to arrange their own favorite game music to play together. In their free time, if they’re not doing something music related they are exploring the outdoors or working on creative projects!

Don Keranen Jazz Awards

Each year, excellence in Jazz is recognized by way of the Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Scholarship. Two students are chosen by their peers in recognition of improvement, excellence, and leadership. Our award winners this year include one of the drummers from R&D Jazz Band, Eira Techtmann, and The Jazz Lab Band’s lead trumpeter Michael Tarske.

These students all showed leadership, dedication, excellence, and improvement this year. I am grateful for them, and wish them continued success in the coming years. 

Director of Jazz Studies, Adam Meckler

Eira is a drummer, percussionist, and videographer/photographer for Michigan Technological University. They play in a total of 5 bands, including the R and D Jazz Band and Video Game Jazz Ensemble. With drumming influences from Jojo Mayer, Max Roach, and JD Beck, they try to play with a mix of traditional and new jazz whenever they can.

Michael Tarske is a Trumpeter that has been playing Jazz since High School. At Michigan Tech he is an Electrical Engineering Technology major with interest in automation. He started his music journey at Tech by sitting in on an R&D Big Band rehearsal and quickly found interest in the Jazz program. Regardless of where the future takes him, Michael plans to keep Jazz music a prominent part of his life.

Annual Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Concert March 22

The jazz ensembles at Michigan Tech present the annual Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 22 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

This annual event pays tribute to Keranen, originator of the Michigan Tech Jazz Studies Program. Featured in the concert will be the Jazz Lab Band and the Research and Development Band.

The Jazz Lab Band will perform works by Duke Ellington, including music composed for the film “Anatomy of a Murder.” In addition, it will play music by Gabriel Fauré, Steely Dan, Professor Emeritus Mike Irish (VPA), George Gershwin, Bob Brookmeyer and Chick Corea.

The Research and Development Band will perform works by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Horace Silver and more. Each of the large jazz ensembles will perform a piece featuring vocalist Clara Peterson, a Michigan Tech student. Also featured will be the premier of an original work composed by the Full Send Combo.

Tickets are on sale now, $15 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available online, by phone at 487-2073, in person at the Central Ticket Office in the SDC or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance.

Note: The Rozsa Box Office opens two hours prior to performances.

50 Years of Great Jazz at Michigan Tech

Don KeranenCelebrate “50 Years of Great Jazz at Michigan Tech — The Gold Standard” at the annual Don Keranen Memorial Concert, the final jazz concert of the performance season, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (March 25) at the Rozsa Center. There will be a reception following the concert in the Rozsa Lobby.

According to Mike Irish, director of jazz studies at Michigan Tech, “Don originated the Jazz Lab Band in 1967, and since then, it has grown into one of the most respected non-major jazz programs in the country. We have so much to be thankful for from these 50 years. We hope that you enjoy this evening’s concert on many levels. Please join us for a reception in the Rozsa lobby following the concert.”

Tickets for the Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Concert are on sale now, $22 for adults, $6 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech Fee.

Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. The Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.