Mike Lewis Named Leader of UH Mānoa Jazz Band

In Bands, Department News, Faculty News by General Entries

The Music Department of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is proud to announce jazz trumpeter and band leader Mike Lewis will join the UH Music ʻohana this fall as Director of the UH Jazz Band.

Director of Bands at UH Mānoa Dr. Jeffrey Boeckman says,“we’re very excited to have Mike Lewis with us. Mike brings a wealth of professional work, including professional big band playing, touring with major artists, studio recording, and directing & teaching. His energy and enthusiasm are positively contagious, and he has ambitious plans for Jazz at UH. We can’t wait to see and hear the UH Jazz Band under Mike’s leadership.”

Mike Lewis says, “I’m really looking forward to working with and making great music with the UH Jazz Band.”

A native New Yorker who has spent substantial time performing in Polynesia, Mike Lewis has recently moved back to Hawai‘i from the Pacific Northwest. He is the creator and band leader of Big Band Monday at Jazz Minds Honolulu and the Jazz Band Director at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Fluent in jazz trumpet, lead trumpet, and recording studio work, his resume includes touring and recording with Buddy Rich, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny and Cher, Billy Joel, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, The Temptations, Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight, and Bruno Mars.

The UH Jazz Band is made up of UH students from across the campus, forming a full-instrumentation big band studying and performing jazz music from a wide range of eras and styles, including study in improvisation. The group rehearses weekly and performs on– and off-campus. The ensemble is one of dozens available to the UH community. The Music Department plays host to dozens of bands, orchestras, choirs, and non-Western ensembles such as Javanese Gamelan, Hawaiian Chorus, Okinawan Ensemble, and Gagaku. See below for more.

About Mike Lewis
About The UHM Jazz Band
About UH Mānoa’s Ensembles