Charlie Young - Conductor - Musical Director - Also Saxophone
Charlie Young is a native of Norfolk, Virginia. Presently residing in Washington, DC, he has served as Professor of Saxophone at Howard University for over 25 years, and now Coordinator of Instrumental Jazz Studies.
Young has had a rich career of performing and recording with various ensembles such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the US Navy Band, the Count Basie Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Young has shared the concert stage with many of the music industry's leading icons ranging from Clark Terry and Ella Fitzgerald to Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones. Performance venues have ranged from London's Royal Albert Hall to New York's Carnegie Hall.
In 1988, Charlie Young was recruited as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra where he is presently the orchestra leader/conductor, and lead saxophonist. Young joined the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in 1995 and has served as the ensemble's principal saxophonist for over 15 years. In 2013, he was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor.
In addition to working with legendary groups, Young has accomplished a great deal with his own jazz quintet, such as performing at the San Remo Italy Jazz Festival as musical ambassador for Washington DC. In 2008, Young was invited to present the inaugural concert and lecture at the opening of the New American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is also published on over 30 CD recordings, including his own release "So Long Ago".
Charlie is a recognized clinician in the field of jazz education as well as in classical and jazz saxophone performance. Clinic presentations in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Egypt, and South Africa and throughout the United States, Europe and Japan have earned Charlie Young a stellar reputation among the most respected in music and education.