Phoenix Arizona: Molina School of Jazz has announced that Emilio Vargas will take on the new role of chief Artistic Director in Feb 2022. Executive Director of InternationalJazz Day AZ Foundation and founder of the Molina School of Jazz William Doc Jones will take on a new position that entails spearheading Molina School of Jazz for the Performing Arts’s forthcoming artistic strategy.
Molina School for the Performing Arts will set out to build a state of arts complex in the next five years that will be the presenting arm of one of 4 resident organizations on the campus, which includes International Jazz Day Day AZ Foundation, Next Student Academy of the Arts, Molina School of Jazz and Jazz Town USA (affordable housing for creative artists).
Who is Emilio Vagas?
As a Jazz and classically trained saxophonist, Mr. Vargas has made it his goal in life to always strive for excellence and integrity in whatever musical environment he finds himself in. His passion for music has led him to many unique and challenging environments including performances with blues recording artist Johnny Rawles, R&B recording artist Johnny Britt, New York jazz vocalist Cyrille Aimee, and playing alongside Ballet Arizona in his latin band MambAZ. On top of performing, Emilio believes in being a teaching artist who shares knowledge and wisdom off the bandstand. As a teaching artist, Mr. Vargas has helped run Jazz music workshops in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico, served as a staff member for marching bands throughout New Mexico, and taught electronic beat music at the Musical Instrument Museum. Electronic music has become a new passion for Mr. Vargas as he has started to observe the transition away from traditional forms of music into more analog forms. As music production becomes more widely accessible, Mr. Vargas has worked towards a strong competency in the most current music software programs such as Ableton Live, Logic X, Soundtrap, and Sibelius. Emilio now teaches private woodwind lessons, ensemble classes, music production classes, and works artist development with local Arizona artists. He remains active as a performer and plays consistently with his Cuban jazz group MambAZ as well as various other jazz, Latin, and pop groups throughout the Phoenix area.