El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the award-winning El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble is part of a dynamic band program that holds a long tradition of excellence. In its over 50-year history, the El Cerrito Jazz Ensemble has been recognized as one of California’s top high school jazz bands and has performed in venues throughout the United States and abroad. Led by El Cerrito alumnus, Keith Johnson, the El Cerrito Jazz Ensemble has earned top ratings and first place awards at numerous jazz festivals across the west coast and have been regular finalists at Monterey’s Next Generation Jazz Festival. Over the past 10 years the group has hosted and performed alongside prominent jazz artists that include Chris Potter, Wycliffe Gordon, Alan Ferber, John Daversa, Donny McCaslin, Eric Harland, and Terell Stafford, among others. Notable performances include appearances at the Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz á Vienne, and the Umbria Jazz Festival. The El Cerrito Jazz Ensemble has twice been selected as featured performers for both the CMEA Bay Section Winter Conference (2020 and 2024) and California All-State Music Education Conference (2014 and 2024) and were recently invited to perform at the 2024 Midwest International Clinic. In April 2024, the El Cerrito Jazz Ensemble were the winners of the California Jazz Championships.

El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble

Conductor's Bio

Keith Johnson serves as Director of Bands at El Cerrito High School and Lecturer of Music at California State University, East Bay where he directs the CSUEB Wind Ensemble and Jazz Orchestra. A San Francisco Bay Area native, his career as a music educator spans two decades with experience at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a Master of Arts degree in music education with an emphasis in wind conducting from San José State University. Keith has been the recipient of various teaching honors that include the El Cerrito High School Teacher of the Year CMEA Bay Section’s Outstanding Jazz Educator Award (2018), KRON 4 Teacher of the Week (2016), CMEA Bay Section’s Outstanding Music Educator Award (2014), the West County Ed Fund’s Teaching Excellence Award (2014). He was also recognized as the West Contra Costa Teacher of the in 2014. Groups under his direction have received multiple awards and performed across the United States and Europe in venues that include Carnegie Hall in New York, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and at several international jazz festivals including Jazz á Vienne and the Montruex, North Sea, Umbria, Victoria, and Monterey jazz festivals. Since arriving to El Cerrito High School in 2009, the ECHS Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble have been featured ensembles at the California All-State Music Education Conference (CASMEC) in 2014, 2018, and 2024. Under his leadership, the ECHS Jazz Ensemble was selected as featured performing ensemble at the 2024 Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Prior to joining ECHS, Keith held positions as jazz director at Portola Middle School in El Cerrito, CA and later director of the Jazzschool Young Musicians Program at the California Jazz Conservatory. As program director at the CJC, Keith founded and directed the award-winning Jazzschool Studio Band, recipient of four national Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards and winner of the “Large Jazz Ensemble” category in 2011. In addition to his teaching commitments Keith works frequently as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor throughout Northern California and has served on the boards of several professional music education organizations including the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ), and is a Past President of CMEA Bay Section.