DigiPen Jazz is an active student band that performs regularly on and off campus. Students gain invaluable experience as both performers and live sound engineers. The group also actively produces their own music videos, in collaboration with faculty and student audio engineers, cinematographers, and video editors. The ensemble’s repertoire includes arrangements of video game music, jazz standards, and original material by student composers in the Bachelor of Arts in Music and Sound Design program.
Students earn credit for participating in the ensemble through a series of one-credit courses offered by the Department of Music, including MUS 116 and MUS 117. Enrollment is determined by audition and is dependent upon the specific instrumental needs of the group.
“Jungle Japes” (Donkey Kong)
“Angry Birds” Theme
“All Good”
Kirkland Summerfest 2016
Meet the Director
Senior lecturer Bruce Stark leads the DigiPen Jazz Ensemble as the band’s director. A lifelong musician, Mr. Stark studied his craft at California State University before going on to earn his master’s degree in composition at the Juilliard School. Afterward, he composed, directed, and produced music in Tokyo, Japan, for over 20 years and appeared in major concert halls around the world. In 2013, Mr. Stark moved back to the United States to join DigiPen’s faculty at the Redmond campus. He started the DigiPen Jazz Ensemble shortly thereafter, and has been an indispensable instructor, bandleader, and mentor at the school ever since.