Hunter caught McBride’s attention through a performance at the Montclair Jazz Festival and a subsequent recommendation from a mutual friend. A middle‑of‑the‑night text exchange sparked several performances together and ultimately resulted in Hunter’s participation in the album.

“Being part of Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 was truly an honor,” Hunter says. “Working with Christian and this incredible roster of artists reminded me how deeply connected the jazz community is to the broader musical landscape. Serving as the drummer on the project carried a real responsibility, as Christian’s music draws from many styles and traditions. Seeing the album recognized at this level is no surprise given the artistry and vision Christian brings, but for me the entire experience has been both humbling and inspiring.”

The album, which was released in August 2025, features many notable artists, including a reunion of Sting and Andy Summers from The Police on the track Murder by Numbers. Hunter says that the opportunity to work behind these artists as well as Samara Joy, Dianne Reeves, Jeffrey Osborne and others was a powerful reminder of how versatile and alive jazz music continues to be.

Hunter’s role on the album is representative of the depth of professional experience found in �鶹ӳ����ý musicians, and a practice of public performance and collaboration that is central to the jazz studies approach to teaching and learning.

The jazz studies program, under the direction of saxophonist Jeff Rupert, offers students a comprehensive foundation in performance, composition and production, supported by experiences that mirror the professional world. Students regularly perform in large ensembles such as the Flying Horse Big Band and in smaller chamber groups, work in professional recording environments, and engage with guest artists through the �鶹ӳ����ý–Orlando Jazz Festival and other events in the community. Resources such as an NPR-affiliated jazz station and an in-house recording label further position the program as a training ground for modern jazz careers.

Hunter joins two other �鶹ӳ����ý music faculty who have earned recognition from the Recording Academy. Jeff Rupert performed on Benny Carter’s award-winning album Harlem Renaissance (1992) and Director of Choral Activities Jeffery Redding received the 2019 Grammy Music Educator Award for his significant contributions to music education.

This year’s festival featured both in-person and virtual events that provided �鶹ӳ����ý students a chance to showcase their incredible talent and ingenuity.

Really, that’s the name of the album – Good News! – and it has been in the top 50 on the three major jazz charts since it was released in July, even spending some time at No. 1 on the Roots Music Report’s chart. The band’s sixth album under Professor Jeff Rupert is charting higher than recordings by Van Morrison, Mike LeDonne and other notables.

The success of the band, made up of students in the university’s jazz studies program, is simple. “We work at promoting good music and artistic endeavors,” says Rupert, a tenor saxophonist.

Selections on the album include the works of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Antonio Carlos Jobim and others. The Good News! title comes from one of the songs on the album, which was composed by one of Rupert’s former teachers 30 years ago, Bob Mintzer.

This is the band’s first recording collaboration with the �鶹ӳ����ý Studio Orchestra, which joins on several songs. Other collaborations on the album are with The Jazz Professors (Rupert, Per Danielsson, Richard��Drexler, Bobby Koelble and Marty Morell), and guest vocalist Jeff “T-Bone” Gerard.

Rupert, director of �鶹ӳ����ý’s jazz studies, also is conductor of the Florida Symphony Youth Jazz Orchestra and founder of Flying Horse Records.

All sales from the album benefit the jazz studies program. CDs are available from and CDBaby, digital downloads are available at retailers, and the album is available on streaming platforms.

The band’s previous album, The Bat Swings! (2018), hit the top three national jazz airplay charts, reaching No. 1 on both the Roots Music Report and the North American College and Community Radio chart, as well as No. 29 on JazzWeek.

The band also will have an album of Ray Charles songs coming out in January. Rupert has spent some time in New York producing the vocal component of the album.

“Now we have the top writers and musicians collaborating with the band,” Rupert says. “It’s a great time at �鶹ӳ����ý.”

“This trifecta is a first,” said Jeff Rupert, director of the program and band. “It’s not often that college jazz programs receive this kind of recognition. The band shares the charts with Chick Corea, Nicholas Payton, Diana Krall, Peter Erskine and other luminaries in jazz.”

Big Man on Campus, released earlier this year, reached No. 7 on the North American College and Community Radio chart, No. 9 on the Roots Music Report, and No. 36 on Jazz Week.

The album is the eighth released by Flying Horse Records, the music label operated by the university to give students an outlet to record and learn about the world of music. The 11 songs on the album were composed by Henry Mancini, Billy Strayhorn, Antonio Carlos Jobim and others, including the title track B.M.O.C. by Rupert.

The band’s success can be attributed to “keeping artistry at the forefront of the project,” Rupert said. With graduations constantly changing the chemistry of the band, it’s always “like recruiting for a football team. At the beginning of the year I get a feel for the talent in the band once auditions are concluded. That’s when I can program and write for the band. This allows us to accentuate strengths and create scenarios that challenge the students.”

He said some of the notable jazz-studies students on Big Man on Campus include saxophonist Saul Dautch, guitarist Ryan Waszmer and freshman trombonist Christian Herrera.

Rupert joined one of the songs on saxophone, and Jeff Moore, dean of the College of Arts & Humanities, also added percussion on a couple of the tracks.

The band’s new student lineup will begin rehearsing in late August and start off the school year with an on-campus performance at 8 p.m. Sept. 29 in Room 101 of the Nicholson School of Communication. They’ll follow that up with a performance at the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival at 1 p.m. Oct. 14.

“We are happy to be cultivating an environment of excellence and relevance for our students,” Rupert said. “Stay tuned for our next release, The Bat Swings!,�� due out this fall – the music of Batman!.”

The free eight-day event based at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando features more than 1,000 students and 100 faculty members showcasing their involvement in theatre, dance, orchestra, choir, big band, chamber music, cabaret, concert bands, opera, visual arts, studio art, gaming, animation, photography and film. Although the event is free, tickets are required for admission to specific events and hall passes are needed to experience the ongoing displays at the center.

(Ticketing and full schedule details are .)

The third-annual festival kicks off with Oklahoma!, the award-winning musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein that won three Academy Awards. The �鶹ӳ����ý presentation will be a collaboration with more than 200 faculty, staff, and students from the theatre and music departments, including an orchestra. Evening showings of the play are scheduled April 7-8.

The festival concludes April 14 with The Bat Swings!, music from the 1960s Batman movie and TV show, as played by the university’s Flying Horse Big Band, which is made of students in the jazz studies program.

In between these bookend events, other presentations will honor last year’s Pulse nightclub victims, raise awareness about hunger in the community, showcase music, fine art, film and other fields.

Phoenix Song, a composition remembering the victims of last summer’s Pulse tragedy in Orlando, will have two performances. The first April 9 will be with 124 voices from �鶹ӳ����ý combined choirs, and then April 11 several hundred singers from invited middle and high school choirs and the �鶹ӳ����ý Alumni Choir will perform. The middle and high school choirs are all part of a day of workshops presented by music alumni. The composition is by David Brunner, interim associate director of the School of Performing Arts and a professor of music.

Events focusing on hunger are a big part of this year’s festival:

• With a cast of more than 30 �鶹ӳ����ý guest artists, faculty, staff, alumni and students, the School of Performing Arts will tell the story of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s account of a dust bowl family in the 1930s after the loss of their farm.
• The art exhibit In the Eyes of the Hungry: Florida’s Changing Landscape will focus on demographic, geographic and ecological shifts in the country, with an emphasis on human relationships and the environment. The art explores ideas ranging from agriculture and industrialization to migration and tourism to ecology and conservation. The exhibit will be at Terrace Gallery in Orlando City Hall across the street from Dr. Phillips.
• Puddin’ and the Grumble, a play about how hunger affects a young girl, is suitable for viewers of all ages and will be in collaboration with the School of Performing Arts students and Second Harvest food bank, which will collect food for those in need.

Returning for the third year is a series of tableau vivant – or “living art” – famous artworks recreated by �鶹ӳ����ý art students who will wear costumes to model as people in the life-size paintings. This year there are 22 paintings from 1910-39, including Picasso, Dali, Hopper, Degas and others. The paintings will be on display evenings April 7-8.

In total there are more than two dozen festival performances, displays, workshops and lectures to be offered, including an opportunity for high school music and theater students to attend workshops led by �鶹ӳ����ý faculty and then perform at the arts center.

This is part of a series of stories about the April 7-14 events at �鶹ӳ����ý Celebrates the Arts 2017. All events are free, but tickets are required for all performances and entrance into the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave., Orlando.��

Coming in from New York City, Peter Bernstein and his jazz trio open the festival on March 24.��Guitarist Bernstein has worked with jazz legends Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, Lou Donaldson and others.

Saturday evening’s concert features the Leroy Jones Quintet. Other featured groups include the �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Professors with Per Danielsson, Marty Morell, Bobby Koelble, Michael Wilkinson, Dan Miller, Jeff Rupert and Richard Drexler.���鶹ӳ����ý artist-in-residence trumpeter Dan Miller will open for Jones.

The Flying Horse Big Band will kick off the high school component of the festival on Saturday morning with workshops.

High school jazz bands representing schools from both Florida coasts will be performing Saturday. Student jazz musicians from Melbourne, Viera, Gulf Coast, North Port, and Palm Beach Central High Schools will have the opportunity to share the stage with the guest artists. By joining the line up of prestigious jazz performers, the student musicians will gain lessons in showmanship and inspiration to pursue further music education and careers in jazz.

“We bring to �鶹ӳ����ý only the best in jazz performance,” said Jeff Rupert, director of jazz studies at �鶹ӳ����ý. “The Peter Bernstein Trio will bring the best of New York jazz to Orlando, and we also have performing quintet leader, Leroy Jones, the ‘keeper of the flame’ for traditional New Orleans Jazz. We are happy to have the opportunity to feature them here at �鶹ӳ����ý for their first Central Florida appearance!”

The performances will be 8 p.m. in the Nicholson School of Communication Auditorium (Room 101). Tickets are $10, $5 for non�鶹ӳ����ý students, and �鶹ӳ����ý students attend free with �鶹ӳ����ý ID.

Sullivan is a multi-instrumentalist, playing trumpet, flugelhorn, peck horn, drums, flute, and tenor, alto and soprano saxophones. He also serves as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and tours universities and schools around the world as a clinician, lecturer and jazz-workshop adjudicator.

“His associations with the most important figures in jazz from the bebop and hard bop era are without compare,” Rupert said.

The Flying Horse Big Band performance will be 8 p.m. in the Nicholson School of Communication auditorium (Rm 101). Tickets are $10 ($5 for students) and �鶹ӳ����ý students can attend for free.

When �鶹ӳ����ý music professor Kelly Miller was alerted that Groban’s management was seeking a talented Central Florida music student who was also a skilled jazz player, she immediately recommended Lewis. He was subsequently engaged to perform three dates with Groban. The performances are Feb. 28 in Sarasota at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, March 1 in Clearwater at the Ruth Eckerd Hall, and March 2 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando.

Lewis says he is both excited and prepared for the performance.

“I think my preparation comes from a combination of intensive training on the instrument through lessons, my knowledge gained about improvisation and musical performance from my degree track, and my experience from multiple performances at �鶹ӳ����ý.”

�鶹ӳ����ý audiences may recognize Lewis from his participation in the Flying Horse Big Band. He was accepted into the premier student jazz ensemble his freshman year and is now the longest standing member of the ensemble. He studies with �鶹ӳ����ý music professor John Almeida.

Lewis will take the stage to join Groban as he sings “Old Devil Moon” from his latest CD “Stages.” Lewis will be following in the footsteps of great jazz trumpet players Arturo Sandoval and Chris Botti, who have both recorded with Groban.

“I am looking forward to getting to network and work with more professional��musicians, and having the opportunity to share my sound with such��a large amount of people,” said Lewis.

For more information about the �鶹ӳ����ý School of Performing Arts, visit

Jeff Rupert, director of the Jazz Studies program at �鶹ӳ����ý, believes it is critical for students to be working side-by-side with active professional musicians.

“We are bringing in guest artists who have a strong presence in the professional world, so our students can communicate and interact with them,” said Rupert. “This fall we are collaborating on repertory works with in-demand artists Harry Allen and Chuck Redd, and learning and performing new works for jazz groups, like our suite for Miles Davis and James Brown at the Florida Music Educators convention in Tampa this January.”

The fall jazz season kicked off Sept. 24 with a performance and master class by jazz vibraphonist Chuck Redd. Rupert said Redd was impressed with �鶹ӳ����ý’s students.

“Chuck Redd told me that this has got to be one of the top jazz programs in the country, and certainly the best small jazz program,” Rupert said. “Other jazz programs have several hundred students. We have forty. This is a big deal.”

Alex Lewis, a trumpet player in his senior year, was conversely enthralled with Redd. “His improvisation is beautiful. It was not only how he was playing, but how he was listening and reacting musically to whatever someone else did. That allowed the music to grow and develop.”

Lewis has been a member of the Flying Horse Big Band since his first semester at �鶹ӳ����ý, in the fall of 2012. The Big Band is the premier student jazz ensemble on campus and students audition for a seat every semester. “This band has been the defining point of my university career. It is the highest thing I could have hoped for.”

The Flying Horse Big Band has a free concert in Winter Park at the Winter Park Autumn Art festival on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.

The group will also be performing with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. in the Communications Building Auditorium on the �鶹ӳ����ý campus. Tickets for “Harry Allen plays Harry Allen with the Flying Horse Big Band” cost $10 and can be purchased in advance.

Allen has more than 30 recordings to his name and frequently tours the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His many accolades include the New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Combo Performance and Gold Disk Awards for three of his CDs. He has performed and recorded with Rosemary Clooney, John Pizzarelli, Tony Bennett, James Taylor and Ray Brown, among many others.

Ryan Wasner, a junior jazz studies major focusing on jazz guitar, says that performing with guest artists such as Redd and Allen gives the students insight into the world of jazz. This semester, he is particularly excited to be on the stage with Allen.

“We are playing music that [Allen] wrote, specifically for this concert,” he said. “These guys have a lot of experience and insight. They’ve experienced what we are trying to do. Most of the time, people in jazz are wanting to give back. It’s a social art; they want to be mentors to a younger generation.”

The Flying Horse Big Band will give its final performance of the fall semester on Dec. 4 in the Nicholson School of Communication auditorium. In addition to the Flying Horse Big Band performances, jazz enthusiasts can attend free performances by student jazz combos and ensembles in the �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 and 27, and Nov. 10, 17 and 24.

In addition, two of the university’s jazz ensembles, the Jazz Professors and The Flying Horse Big Band, are producing albums for �鶹ӳ����ý’s record label, Flying Horse Records. The record label has produced six albums and another is in the works. The most recent release by the Jazz Professors, En Plein Air, reached No. 29 on JazzWeek’s charts this summer and the Big Band’s recent release,��“Into the Mystic” was listed as “Chartbound” by JazzWeek this July.

Performances at a glance:

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Sunday, October 11, 2015; 1:00 pm

The �鶹ӳ����ý Flying Horse Big Band will perform at the band shell in Central Park, Winter Park, as part of the Winter Park Art Festival.

��Dz���:��Free and open to the public

Location: Central Park, Winter Park Band Shell

407-823-1500

��

Harry Allen Plays Harry Allen, with �鶹ӳ����ý’s Flying Horse Big Band

Flying Horse Big Band

Special Guest Harry Allen, tenor saxophone

Friday, October 16, 2015; 8:00 pm

��Dz���:��$10, $5 non-�鶹ӳ����ý students, free with �鶹ӳ����ý ID
Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert I

Tuesday, October 20, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý Student Jazz Combos

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert II

Tuesday, October 27, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý Student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Ensemble II Concert

Tuesday, November 10, 2015; 8:00 pm

The �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Ensemble II presents a concert under the direction of Michael Wilkinson.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert III

Tuesday, November 17, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert IV

Tuesday, November 24, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Friday, December 4, 2015; 8:00 pm

��Dz���:��$10, $5 non-�鶹ӳ����ý students, free with �鶹ӳ����ý ID
Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

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“The celebration was designed to showcase the work of the �鶹ӳ����ý and its partners — and, boy, did it,” Orlando Sentinel arts writer Matt Palm said��in his review of the April 9-15 event. “Can’t wait for next year’s celebration.”

More than 13,600 free, advance-ticket reservations were made to see the various performances, said Jeff Moore, director of the �鶹ӳ����ý School of Performing Arts and artistic director of the festival, adding that the event exceeded his expectations. Ten of the events were “sold out.”

The festival featured more than 1,000 �鶹ӳ����ý students and faculty members showcasing studio art, music, theatre, dance, gaming, animation, photography and film at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. All the presentations were put on by��the School of Performing Arts and the School of Visual Arts & Design, both in the College of Arts & Humanities. Some of the events included community arts partners and K-12 students.

“When you do something the first time, it feels like you need time to ramp up. But this seemed to hit right out of the box,” Moore said.

This was the first time all the university’s artistic presentations could be experienced in one place.

��“There was so much vibrancy,” said Heather Gibson, marketing director for the �鶹ӳ����ý Theatre Department. “We in the arts have never felt this much hum going on.”

She said the biggest audiences of the festival attended Icarus at the Edge of Time and Shakespeare Swings!, both of which had people waiting in line to grab any of the seats left open by no-shows in the 2,500-capacity theatre.

Icarus was a multimedia performance by the �鶹ӳ����ý Symphony Orchestra based on a children’s book by Columbia University physicist Brian Greene and narrated by actress Kate Mulgrew from the Star Trek: Voyager TV series. Shakespeare Swings! featured �鶹ӳ����ý’s Flying Horse Big Band and the Orlando Shakespeare Theater Cabaret Singers.

Moore said he attended every event at the festival and noticed that instead of seeing the same people at each performance, there were different audiences.

“It was meeting everybody on their own turf,” he said. “This was a celebration of the arts, but the arts reach into so many other disciplines. When you walked into the center lobby you were immediately immersed in the arts – and science, mathematics, literature and computers coming together with art.”

Moore advised marking calendars now for next year’s festival when �鶹ӳ����ý has the arts center reserved April 4-17, 2016. Next year’s festival will run during two weekends and the days between, he said.

He hopes to involve more K-12 students through workshops and performance showcases next year, and create more collaborative partnerships with community arts groups.

“Those were so enjoyable for students and everyone who came,” Moore said.