12/28/2007
One Talented Student Will Have Opportunity to Play on Stage with Poncho Sanchez February 16
Deadline to enter contest is January 15. Now accepting entries from students in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara counties and the San Fernando Valley!

The Ventura Music Festival will select one high school student to play on stage with Latin-Jazz legend Poncho Sanchez and his band February 16, 2008.

"One talented student will have the opportunity to perform live on stage with Latin jazz master Poncho Sanchez on Feb. 16, 2008 by competing in the Ventura Music Festival Student Jazz Competition," says Cheryl Heitmann, executive director of the Ventura Music Festival. "High school students in the counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and the San Fernando Valley are encouraged to submit one song recorded on CD for review by an esteemed panel of judges, who will select a winner to play one number alongside the legendary master."

All students proficient in instruments appropriate for a Latin jazz band are eligible (horn, percussion, wind). There is no cost to enter the contest, which is open to all high school students in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara counties and the San Fernando Valley.

Entries must be received no later than January 15, 2008 and must include a label with the following information:

• Name, age, address, telephone number and e-mail of student
• School name and music teacher name and contact information
• Name of song and composer as recorded by student

Mail CD entries to the Ventura Music Festival at 89 S. California Street, Suite D, Ventura CA 93001All entries to the contest will receive discount tickets to see Poncho Sanchez at the Festival concert on February 16. The winning student will receive complimentary tickets for each member of his/her school band.

About Poncho Sanchez
Poncho Sanchez is the leader of the most popular Latin jazz group in the world today. Over the years, Sanchez has hand-picked guest artists who have had a special role in shaping his growth as a musician, from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonist Eddie Harris, to Latin jazz patriarch Tito Puente, conga titan Mongo Santamaria and the late Ray Charles.

Sanchez was born in Texas in 1951 into a large Mexican-American family, but grew up in the Los Angeles area where he was weaned on a broad range of Latin and non-Latin popular music. Inspired by the conga playing of Cuban great Mongo Santamaria, he honed his skills as a percussionist and broke into the limelight at the age of 23 when he joined vibraphonist Cal Tjader's famed Latin jazz ensemble in 1975. Poncho performed with him until Tjader's untimely death in 1982. A year later, he began his unprecedented 23-year relationship with Concord Records, which has produced two dozen recordings, a GRAMMY® Award and several GRAMMY nominations.

For more information on the student contest, call the Ventura Music Festival offices at 805-648-3146.

For interviews or more information about Poncho Sanchez, call Tina Vervoorn at CMS Info Services, 805-983-3495 x117.