Joe is a professional trombonist, composer and educator based out of Salt Lake City. He attained a bachelor’s degree in Trombone Performance and a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Utah. He has been involved historically with important musical projects such as the Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra (SLAJO) and John Henry. Joe’s current projects include Hot House West and a quartet he co-leads named “Subconscious 3”. He has shared the stage with a long list of masterful musicians throughout his career; most notably Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Marshall Gilkes, Andy Martin, Herlin Riley, Charlie Hunter and Robert Walter. Joe is an active husband and father to three and enjoys art, sports and the outdoors.
Shane has studied and performed around the globe, including in Brazil, China, Mexico, Trinidad/Tobago, Puerto Rico, West Africa, and across the United States. He serves as Director of Percussion/Assistant Professor of Music at Utah Valley University and Associate Editor of World Percussion for the Percussive Arts Society. Shane has performed on Broadway as drummer/percussionist for the musical 1776 at 54 Below. He was the drummer for the off-Broadway premiere of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning rock musical Next to Normal and the 2013 regional tour of Cabaret. He has performed with artists and groups such as Boyz II Men, Guster, Patti Austin, Eurovision winner Tajči, and the Hot Sardines. As a popular musician, Shane is a regular drummer for the Diamond Empire Band and the Hot House West Swing Orchestra. As a classical/chamber musician, he serves as percussionist and Director of Production for internationally performing chamber group Khemia Ensemble and regularly performs with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera as well as Ballet West. Shane is a proud Yamaha Performing Artist and endorser of Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, REMO drumheads, and Zildjian cymbals.
Hot House West is an exciting ensemble whose mission is to celebrate the timeless allure of swing rhythm. Founded in Salt Lake City in 2011, the band cultivates a one-of-a-kind personality blending the virtuosic yet soulful music of Django Reinhardt with their western roots and American swing influence.
The band has become a tight-knit community of some of the country’s top-tier jazz musicians, and the friendship and community spirit they share is immediately palpable. Group vocals, audience interaction, masterful improvisation, and a ceaseless swinging pocket keep audiences smiling, laughing, and tapping their feet from the first note to the last.
The Hot House West Swing Orchestra combines stellar vocals, a big band of horns, and a Django-inspired rhythm section sound consisting of two guitars, bass, and drums. Their guitar-driven interplay, acrobatic horn lines, punchy hits, and collective improvisation alluding to the streets of New Orleans captures a holistic definition of swing unmatched by any other group.
Serene is a concert pianist from a most unexpected trajectory. Though she never attended conservatory, her solo performances have been described by The Paris Review as a “spectacle to match the New York Philharmonic”. Today, Serene has become one of the most talked about young talents in the classical music and beyond.
Beyond concertizing, Serene enjoys other collaborations such as her role as composer for Kayne West’s Opera, premiered at Lincoln Center and Art Basel, as well as pianist and technologist with Blue Man Group’s founder, bringing futuristic innovations at the intersection of music and technology while also highlighting her own audiovisual synesthesia.
Previously, Serene was a computer scientist, Google Engineer, and senior research fellow on various projects, before leaving to fully focus on the piano. In the brief years since, she has cultivated a disciplined, personal, and spiritual approach to her music. With her intersections of many disciplines, plus the “ability to enthrall audiences”, she has grown an international following.
Serene is one of very few self-taught pianists who’ve performed Rachmanioff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, which was described as “unprecedented” by the Liszt Academy. Serene loves sharing the beauty and power of classical music with audiences everywhere in venues ranging from the Vienna Musikverein to a full orchestra in Golden Gate park, to a decommissioned Boeing 747. Serene is a Bösendorfer Artist.