Twenty-nine and Counting to… Thirty!

Published June 12, 2026

Twenty-nine and Counting to… Thirty!

by Chuck Reider

Next year will be the Reno Jazz Orchestra’s 30^th anniversary and we are working on a celebration. I thought I would look back through the decades as so much has changed. As a founding member, I enjoy looking back but most of all looking to our 30^th and beyond.

This year we revised our mission statement to The Reno Jazz Orchestra exists to inspire engagement with world-class jazz and American music in northern Nevada and beyond through extraordinary performance, transformative education, and vibrant community connection.

We value community engagement and we meet our community where it is: schools, neighborhoods, and concert halls to build lasting relationships. Our history reflects that engagement and here are some highlights.

In 1997, the RJO became a nonprofit with our first gig at the Continental Lodge (KOLO-TV produced a news feature you can view here). Those gigs were a lot of fun and over the next several years we would perform three or four times a year. 

I only have financial history starting in 2004 with a modest income of $22,500. Ten years later income rose to $126,225 and ten years after that (2024) $437,000! In comparison, from 2004 to 2024 the Reno-Sparks population increased by 40,000, about 14%. I share these numbers not to highlight how well we have been raising money, but rather how these funds allow us to engage the community with our passion for jazz.

In 2003 the RJO performed its first Artown concert featuring Orestes Vilató and we have continued every year; this year, the RJO features Matt Mauser. 2016 was our first year performing at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival with the concert Such Sweet Thunder, the music of Duke Ellington and Shakespearian actors. This year we are paying tribute to jazz legend guitarist George Benson. 

For the first time a full string section joined the RJO to perform a tribute to the great Donny Hathaway this past September. This was recorded and we are diligently putting all those tracks together for a release. For many years the RJO planned on creating a season series. Last year, that came to fruition with the three-concert Quintessence series; this year to be expanded to four. 

Our first twenty years the RJO did not have a “home.” We rehearsed at UNR and various middle and high schools until 2018 when we moved into the old Musicians’ Union building with the Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company. In 2003 we moved to Note-Able Music Therapy Services where we had a dedicated office/rehearsal space. A year later we rented a second room to create a dedicated office. Now the RJO has a rehearsal space as well as the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra bands, the Discover Jazz Workshop, and our newest addition, Sapphire, an all-women big band. Led by Nichole Heglund, Sapphire provides an opportunity for women to hone their jazz skills. More on Sapphire later.

Founder Jack Caudill led the band and co-founder Tony Savage took over the helm only to leave to tour with Englebert Humperdinck. I took over in 2006 and in 2024 the RJO auditioned four candidates to replace me and we were happy when Greg Johnson accepted our offer. If you have been to a recent concert, you know Johnson is a gifted saxophonist and conductor. You may not know he is also a great arranger, arranging all the music for many of our concerts. Over the years we have recorded five albums:

• RJO 2000 (studio) – 2000
• Bach to Blues (live) – 2002
• Jazz Alive (live) – 2012
• Bring Me the Funk of James Brown – 2015
• Next (studio) – 2023 our first album of all original material

Perhaps it is our education programs that most excites us. The RJO has always been passionate about sharing our love of jazz with the next generation. What we call Jazz in the Schools started with the RJO going to a high school working with their jazz big band, providing clinics and then performing. Now, twenty-five years later, Jazz in the Schools this year hosted seventeen student ensembles who performed an RJO performance at UNR and received feedback from world class clinicians. Our Mentor Program started in 2015 and RJO musicians visit school jazz bands to coach them on that thing called jazz and it now serves ten schools annually. Last year we provided 250 hours of instruction: 2,397 community members were engaged and 850 students received instruction. All of the above is possible through grants and private donations as the RJO does not charge the schools or students.

June 6^th and 7^th was the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO) showcase where RYJO I and II as well as our Discovery Jazz ensemble displayed their passion for jazz. The latter is a six-session workshop where students learn to improvise without any written material, all by ear. 

I must give a shout out to our talented and gifted staff who organize and market all our events. Thanks so much!  

I share all of this because it has been my honor to be a part of the RJO growth and its great performances since its 1997 inception. It is the support of our community that allows us to engage the community with great jazz experiences. 

Onward to thirty!

Join us:

• July 28 and 29 for Trekkin' Tahoe: A Jazz/Rock Odyssey featuring Matt Mauser
• August 23 and 24: A Tribute to George Benson featuring Colin Cook and Kyle Rea\

More info and tickets: renojazzorchestra.org

Chuck Reider is the the President of the Reno Jazz Orchestra.

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