HAIG SHAHVERDIAN holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the Hartt School of Music, a Masters Degree from Wesleyan University and post-graduate training from the University of Hartford. He has been teaching in West Hartford since 1971, first at Sedgwick Junior High School, Conard High School, King Philip Middle School, becoming Director of Bands at Hall High School in 1989.
Haig's ensembles have been recognized nationally and have performed at the White House and with many jazz greats including Wynton Marsalis. In 1998-99 Haig became Supervisor of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. As Supervisor, Haig has formed a partnership between West Hartford Public Schools, the Hartt School of Music and a core group of community leaders. This effort has resulted in the establishment of a non-profit organization known as Gifts of Music, which partners low-income students with teachers from the Community Division of the Hartt School of Music for weekly instrumental lessons.
In addition to initiating numerous music and theater programs within West Hartford Public Schools, Haig is also the founder of the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival, where he still serves as Production Supervisor. Haig has been recognized over the years with various awards, among them Outstanding Jazz Educator from DownBeat Magazine, Connecticut Outstanding Teacher/Artist from CAAE, Noah Webster Award for Extraordinary Commitment to West Hartford, and the Outstanding Music Educator from the National Federation Interscholastic Music Association.
Haig continues to produce Pops 'n Jazz and co-directs the Concert Jazz Band at Hall High School.
JOHN MASTROIANNI has performed as a professional musician since he was fifteen years old. His talents as a saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and arranger have lead him to a diversity of musical experiences.
John earned a B.S. in Music Education and a B.M. in jazz studies from the University of Bridgeport, and an M.A. in Jazz Studies from New York University. He has studied with saxophone with Phil Woods, Dick Oatts, Joe Lovano, and Gary Klein, and composition with Bill Finegan, Jim McNeely, Tom Boras, and Neil Slater.
John has performed, toured, and recorded with artists such as Mel Lewis, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Smokey Robinson, Louie Bellson, Charli Persip and Supersound, Harvie Swartz, Jim McNeely, Jay Leonhart, Gerry Mulligan, Lew Anderson, Clint Holmes, Roger Kellaway, the Glenn Miller Band, Sonny Costanzo, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Nick Brignola, and many others! He has also performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Norwalk and Hartford Symphonies, and at the Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Bushnell, Shubert, Palace, Goodspeed Opera House, and Oakdale theaters. John as played in the orchestra for the Broadway (NYC) production of Three Penny Opera.
John's three recordings as a leader, entitled Cookin' On All Burners (Stash), The Time Being (Jazz Alliance), and Live at the Silvermine (Jazzheads), have all earned him critical acclaim. He is also a featured soloist and composer/arranger on the New England Jazz Ensemble recordings, Version 3.0 (Brownstone), Storm Before the Calm (Sea Breeze), and on the Sonny Costanzo Jazz Orchestra recording Sonny's on the Money (Stash). John is currently a performer and recording artist for the Jazzheads label (NYC).
In addition to being a free-lance musician, John performs with his own quartet, and leads a sixteen piece jazz orchestra that he composes and arranges all of the music for. John's music has been performed and recorded by his groups, as well as the New England Jazz Ensemble, the Army Blues Band (Washington D.C.), the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Sonny Costanzo Jazz Orchestra, and ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. His big band charts are currently published by Walrus Music. John has also written a piece for chamber orchestra and soprano saxophone which is currently published by Dorn Publications. In December 2002, John was named by School Band and Orchestra Magazine as one of the "50 Directors Who Make A Difference" in the entire United States.
John has taught at New York University, Albertus Magnus College, the University of Bridgeport, the New York State Summer School for the Arts, Bridgeport Central High School, and New Canaan High School. Currently, he is the Director of Bands at Hall High School in West Hartford, and the founder and music director of the Young Artists Summer Jazz Workshop.
