Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies, SAXOPHONE, Jazz Workshop, Jazz Studies, Jazz History, Dewberry School of Music, CVPA
Contact Information
Building: de Laski Performing Arts Bldg
Biography
Saxophonist, composer, and educator John Kocur is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at George Mason University. He previously taught at Northern Virginia Community College where he directed the NOVA Nighthawks Jazz Ensemble. He serves as a saxophonist with the 257th Army Band of the D.C. National Guard, “the Band of the Nation’s Capital.”
Kocur founded and is the current president of the Loudoun Jazz Society, a chapter of the Jazz Education Network. The society presents monthly jam sessions, open big band rehearsals, and networking events in Loudoun County, VA.
As a bandleader, he has released two albums of original music that received reviews in national media outlets. The John Kocur Quartet has performed at Blues Alley, Bohemian Caverns, Strathmore, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, and the DC Jazz Festival.
As a sideman, Kocur has performed with GRAMMY-nominated artists Jamie Cullum and Christylez Bacon, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, bluegrass duo Herb & Hanson, Indian Classical violinist Nistha Raj, and the Virginia Grand Military Band. He has performed overseas at the Jazz Ascona Festival in Switzerland and the first annual Nagano Jazz Festival in Japan.
Previously, John was selected for the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency program at the John F. Kennedy Center, where he worked with jazz legends such as Curtis Fuller, Dr. Billy Taylor, Carmen Lundy, George Cables, and Winard Harper. John was also one of six musicians selected as an Artist-In-Residence at Strathmore Performing Arts Center in Bethesda, MD, through which he presented a series of solo concerts and lectures.
He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Instrumental Music from George Mason University and a Master of Music Degree in Jazz Studies from Howard University.
He currently resides in Sterling, VA with his wife and twin daughters.
Assistant Professor of Music
- Applied Jazz Saxophone
- Jazz Workshop Big Band
- Jazz Studies
- Theory for Pop and Jazz
Education
- B.M. Instrumental Music, George Mason University
- M.M. Jazz Studies, Howard University