Caleb Chapman

Caleb Chapman is the president of Caleb Chapman Music. As such, Caleb directs over 100 of Utah’s most talented young musicians in five elite ensembles, including the award-winning Crescent Super Band. Chapman is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He was born on August 15, 1973, and hails from Derry, New Hampshire. Chapman's main instrument in high school and college at Brigham Young University was the saxaphone, but he also played the flute, clarinet, and the euphonium.

Chapman's vision and accomplishments have marked him as a rising star, both in the United States and now internationally. In 1999, he established The Music School in Utah. He shaped an innovative approach to music education that has yielded some of America's most promising musicians. He also designed and authored what became the proprietary curriculum system utilized by the school. In 2006 Chapman's innovative approach garnered the attention of the Juilliard School. The prestigious conservatory became affilliated with The Music School, the only such association in the country. Chapman also established unique relationships with the prestigious Berklee College of Music and most of Utah’s top music organizations, including Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony, and the Gina Bachauer Foundation.

The Music School fostered every kind of musical talent with stellar instructors and prestigious guests from the world of music. There were about 20 bands organized within the school, including bluegrass, speed metal and Caribbean steel drums.

"Originally, I thought I was going to be a public school music teacher, but after a year or two in school, I decided it was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. All through college, I was playing with a Ska band called "My Man Friday" -- you probably didn't know it, but Provo, Utah is like the Ska capital of the world -- so I got the touring rock-star thing out of my system and then, in my last semester at BYU, I was about to enroll in the MBA program."

Then he went for a drive with his wife, Alison.

"I was doing some teaching at American Fork High School and I had about 50 kids I was tutoring on my own and Alison said, 'It's too bad you couldn't do that and make a living at it.' That's when she said, 'You need to start your own music school.' [1]

Chapman has won honors and recognition for his efforts in the field of music. Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. recognized him in three declarations. He was named to the "Fab 50" List for 2010 by Utah Valley Magazine. In 2007 he was honored as the inaugural inductee into the Horne School of Music Hall of Fame and received the “Superior Accomplishment in Music Award” from the Utah Music Educators Association. He is the 2006 recipient of the KUER FM90 “Voice of Jazz Award”.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert presented Chapman with the prestigious 2013 “Governor’s Performing Artist Award,” given to one artist annually for significant contributions to art in Utah. His bands have been honored with 22 DownBeat Awards from 2006 to 2013. In 2011, Chapman was named the “John LaPorta International Jazz Educator of the Year,” one of the highest honors in music education. He was age 37 at the time and was the youngest to ever receive this honor. He also has been named Utah’s “Best Educator” (2011) and “Best Music Educator” (2012) by Utah Best of State. Chapman was a finalist out of 30,000 nominees for the first ever "GRAMMY Music Educator Award" (2014). In 2013, Chapman was appointed Director of the prestigious Jazz Band of America, an all-star jazz band consisting of the top high school jazz students from across the nation. The group performed at the Music for All National Festival held in Indianapolis in March 2014.

In 2013, Chapman released his first music method book with Alfred Music, titled The Articulate Jazz Musician. The book focuses on Chapman's celebrated method for teaching jazz articulation and style to young musicians. It features fourteen original tunes from multi-GRAMMY-winning member of the Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Coffin, and a play-along CD that includes Coffin, Chris Walters, and GRAMMY winners Victor Wooten and Roy “Futureman” Wooten.

Chapman is currently an education expert for the newly formed Jazz Education Network (JEN), as well as the past president of the Utah unit of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and an Education Expert on the organization's international resource team. Additionally, Mr. Chapman serves on the Executive Board of JazzSLC, presenters of the Salt Lake City Jazz at the Sheraton Series.

The Crescent Super Band

Chapman formed the Crescent Super Band in 2001. The Crescent Super Band has frequently been hailed as one of the best professional bands in the world to be comprised entirely of young musicians. All of the musicians and singers with the band are aged 18 and under. The band has been featured in international music festivals and has a strong national reputation. In 2007, and again in 2010, DownBeat Magazing awarded the Super Band with its "DownBeat Award," naming the band the best in the country. The band has won four "best of state" awards in Utah, and the BOSS Award identifying the band as the top organization in Arts and Entertainment in Utah, beating out every other professional music group for the honor.

The Crescent Super Band has performed with over 100 professional guest artists. The band has released five full-length albums on the Big Swing Face Record Label, including their latest release, “What Is Hip”, featuring Saturday Night Live band leader, Lenny Pickett. The 22-member band has frequently been hailed as the top band of their type in the world.

The band debuted at Carnegie Hall on May 21, 2013. Guests included six-time Grammy winning saxophonist, David Sanborn; Grammy-nominated trumpeter, Wayne Bergeron; and Grammy-winner, John Clayton. After raising $25,000 to complete the work on a full-length studio album, the band released the album “Don’t Look Down” in December 2013. The album is a departure from the band’s usual American Songbook format and features chart-topping music from such stars as Adele, Beyonce, Foo Fighters, the Black Keys, and the Dave Matthews Band.

The Band has won the Best of State award annually from 2007 through 2013.