MUSIC DIRECTORS

Gavin Worland is a Colorado-based trumpeter, composer, arranger, educator, bandleader, and producer. A graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, Gavin received his master’s degree in jazz performance and his bachelor’s from Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he studied under prolific musicians including Shane Endsley, Gabe Mervine, Annie Booth, and Dawn Clement.

As a performer, Gavin has been fortunate to travel the world playing at impeccable venues, including Carnegie Hall, Boettcher Concert Hall, The Newman Center, Dazzle, and Nissi’s while playing a wide variety of music. Gavin takes immense pride in his versatility as a musician, playing everything from Basie and Bach to Mariachi and Mahler. He has been honored to share the stage with world-class musicians such as Remy LeBoeuf, Greg Gisbert, Gabriel Santiago, and Zach Rich, among many more.

Doug Rasmussen grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, & graduated with a degree in Saxophone

Performance from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He spent the 1980s in Seattle, Washington and while he was there, was a member of the Fred Radke Orchestra. While in Seattle, he also played with Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Four Tops, the Temptations, and many of the swing-era greats including Steve Allen, Helen Forest, Frankie Lane, and Frank Sinatra Jr.

He was a founding member of the Jazz Police Big Band, with whom he recorded two CDs & wrote many of the charts they played & recorded. After moving to Minneapolis, he found employment with MakeMusic where he was a member of the Finale development team. In 2008, he formed the ACME Jazz Company, a big band committed to playing original compositions.

Now in Colorado and retired, he plays with the Flatirons Jazz Orchestra, Deborah Stafford and the Night Stalkers, the Longs Peak Stompers, and the Longmont Concert Band where he is currently president of the board of directors.