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.
Leelanee is Third Horn of the New York Philharmonic and joined the orchestra in 2013. She was previously a fellow of Ensemble Connect, Carnegie Hall’s collective of young professionals and music advocates. In recent seasons, Leelanee has made solo appearances at Carnegie Hall, several International Horn Symposia, and has presented recitals and masterclasses around the country. She has performed as guest principal horn with the London Symphony Orchestra, appears frequently at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and was a member of the 2022 National Brass Ensemble. An advocate for works by women composers, she can be heard on the world-premiere recording of Fernande Breihl-Decruck’s Poëme Héroïque for trumpet, horn, and orchestra.
Leelanee grew up in a musically enthusiastic and supportive family in northern Michigan and attended Interlochen Arts Academy. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music. Her primary teachers include William Purvis, Douglas Hill, and Julie Schleif. Leelanee has spent summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Pacific and Sarasota music festivals, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She is a past prizewinner in the International Horn Competition of America and the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program. She now serves on the horn faculties of New York University and Rutgers University. Among her proudest accomplishments is completing the New York City Marathon twice.
Hear Leelanee perform:
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.
Daniel Tracy is the music director at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, Utah, where he teaches Concert Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, Choir, and Bagpipes. Daniel graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Weber State University in December of 2022. At Weber State he played in the Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and organized all of the small combo groups. Outside of school, Daniel organizes and leads the free monthly concert, Jazz at the Station at the Union Station Ogden. (Free concert on the second Wednesday of every month!)
Daniel also runs a studio of private bass, cello, and jazz improvisation students. In addition to teaching, Daniel is an avid performer of jazz and classical music on the upright bass. Daniel can be seen performing with Next Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra Ogden, or freelance in his hometown of Ogden, in Salt Lake City, and Moab, Utah.
Upcoming Performances:
Jun 9 – Floating Concert: Water, Rocks, and Jazz
Jun 10 – Family Music Hike
Jun 10 – Garden Benefit Concert
Jun 11 – Community Concert
Kale Stiles is a Los Angeles based multi-instrumentalist specializing in clarinet, steel guitar, ukulele and old-school jazz vocals. In addition to being a niche gig and session player, Kale tours internationally with the critically-acclaimed Black Market Trust. From Sinatra to Sleepwalk, his fresh take on classic melodies is sure to create a vintage vibe.
Upcoming Performances:
June 9 – Floating Concert: Water, Rocks & Jazz
June 10 – Family Music Hike
June 10 – Garden Benefit Concert
Jun 11 – Community Concert
Jun 13-17 – Cataract Canyon Raft Trip
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 Quartet consists of two guitars (Nathan Royal, James Martak), bass (Daniel Tracy), and clarinet (Kale Stiles); harkening back to the traditional sounds of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of Paris. The dynamic interplay of the clarinet and lead guitar balanced by the driving pulse of the rhythm guitar and bass creates an unforgettable swing experience for the listener.
Upcoming Performances:
Jun 9 – Floating Concert: Water, Rocks, and Jazz
Jun 10 – Family Music Hike
Jun 10 – Garden Benefit Concert
Jun 11 – Community Concert
As one of Hot House West’s founding members, James has been providing the driving rhythm for the band since 2011. James began playing guitar when he was in high school and graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance in 2014. He has since performed all over the U.S. and parts of Europe with Hot House West and has performed alongside artists such as Gonzalo Bergara, Frank Vignola, Olli Soikkeli, and Tcha Limberger.
Upcoming Performances:
Jun 9 – Floating Concert: Water, Rocks, and Jazz
Jun 10 – Family Music Hike
Jun 10 – Garden Benefit Concert
Jun 11 – Community Concert
Hailed by The New York Times for her “inexhaustible virtuosity”, clarinetist Yoonah Kim is the winner of the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition – the first solo clarinetist to win CAG in nearly 30 years. That same year Yoonah became the first woman to win first prize both at the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition and the 2016 George Gershwin International Competition. In 2020, she won the Gold medal at the Vienna International Competition. Yoonah enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and educator. She believes in advocating for the clarinet by commissioning new works such as Eric Nathan’s Double Concerto for Violin and Clarinet, Texu Kim’s reimagination of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for solo clarinet and string orchestra, and Andrew Hsu’s Erebus for clarinet and piano and Three Pieces for solo clarinet.
Yoonah has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series, and DC’s Washington Performing Arts series, among others. From 2016-2018, Yoonah was a member of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, where she served as an education ambassador for New York City schools. Yoonah co-founded Chime for Children, bringing interactive performances to children with limited access to music. She has appeared at chamber music festivals including Marlboro, Mainly Mozart, Bravo! Vail.
Born in Seoul and raised in British Columbia, Yoonah is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at The Juilliard School as the C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow.
Upcoming Performances:
Sept 7 – Grotto II: Winds on the River
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.