Fresno State will pay tribute to the late Paul Shaghoian, alumnus and renowned jazz educator, on Thursday, May 6, with a memorial jazz concert featuring Grammy Award nominee and trumpeter, Bobby Shew.
Shaghoian, a part-time professor at Fresno State from 1998 to 2002 who was named Jazz Educator of the Year for 2003 by the California Music Educators Association, died of a heart attack at the age of 45 on April 16.
The concert hosted by the Department of Music will be held at the Concert Hall in the new music building on campus at 8 p.m.
Shew, an internationally acclaimed Yamaha jazz trumpet artist will perform along with Fresno State’s Jazz Bands “A” and “B” under the direction of Dr. Michael Caldwell, music department faculty.
Shew, who is on the board of directors of the International Trumpet Guild, has acted as National Trumpet Chairman for the International Association of Jazz Educator’s for 16 years and has several albums to his credit including “Salsa Caliente,” “Playing with Fire” with Tom Harrell and “Heavyweights” with Carl Fontana.
A part of the concert proceeds will benefit the Paul Shaghoian Memorial Fund at the Buchanan High School, where Shaghoian was a director of Jazz Studies,
Apart from teaching at the Clovis Unified School District since 1991, Shaghoian’s 25- year career included teaching at the San Joaquin Memorial High School and Alta Sierra Intermediate School among others.
His other achievements included Down Beat magazine’s Achievement Award for Jazz Education in 1999, arranging orchestras for celebrities like Bob Hope, Mel Tormé and Burt Bacharach and being former lead and jazz trumpet for the North Texas State One O’clock Band and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Under Shaghoian’s direction, students at Buchanan High and Alta Sierra Intermediate schools in the Clovis Unified School District earned national attention when they won Outstanding Big Band awards from Down Beat each year from 1996 to 2002.
A Kingsburg native, Shaghoian earned his bachelor’s degree in music education in 1994 and master’s degree in music performance conducting in 1998, both at Fresno State.
The concert tickets — $6 for the general audience and $4 for students and senior citizens –will be available at the music department office on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information call (559) 278-2654.
Copy prepared by University Relations student intern Ravneet Padda.
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