The SSJO celebrates a century of hot jazz with Grammy winner Catherine Russell!

From Springfield to the Cotton Club, experience the music that defined a generation and still echoes today. Featuring the timeless sounds of Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and other trailblazing artists who ushered in the Jazz Age.

Todd Stoll

In his three-decade career as an educator, administrator, performer and conductor, Todd Stoll has traveled to 4 continents and 22 countries bringing jazz to people of all ages and diverse backgrounds. After a 20-year career as an educator and band leader in central Ohio, Mr. Stoll became the Vice President of Education at Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) in New York City, the world’s largest institution dedicated to jazz. Since he joined the organization in 2011, JALC has produced more than 25,000 education events in the US and abroad. In his position there, he has grown the education program exponentially, with a special focus on underserved populations in urban cities across America. JALC’s innovative Essentially Ellington high school jazz band program has expanded during his tenure, providing 300,000 free scores to nearly 7,000 high schools in all 50 states and 57 countries.

An experienced performer, Duke Ellington expert, and jazz advocate, Mr. Stoll founded the Columbus Jazz Youth Orchestra (CJYO) in 1991 to give young people the chance to cultivate a love of jazz through performance. He served as the director until 2011. Under his direction, the CJYO released six CDs, won a DownBeat award, and toured Europe and South America. As a performer, he has appeared with numerous ensembles across several genres and can be heard on Sirius XM radio with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

An in-demand conductor and clinician Mr. Stoll has appeared with numerous all-state ensembles, the NAFME All National Honors Jazz Ensemble, and in Havana, Cuba at renowned music conservatories Amadeo Roldan and La Escuela Nacional de Arte.

Mr. Stoll holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Miami University. He currently serves on the boards of the Jazz Education Network where he is President; the New York City chapter of Most Valuable Kids; and the National Association for Music Education Policy Roundtable.