BIG BAND JAZZ IS ALIVE IN NORTHERN NEVADA'S YOUNG MUSICIANS!
The Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra
Our Founders and Directors
Music Director, Nichole Heglund.
Nichole Heglund
Director of the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra
Nichole Heglund, originally from Denver, Colorado, moved to Reno and began teaching music in 2003. Over the years she has taught and inspired students in jazz ensembles, bands and choirs at Swope MS, Wooster HS, Billinghurst MS and is currently teaching at Verdi ES and Veterans ES. She became the Education Director for the Reno Jazz Orchestra in 2019 where she continues to share her knowledge and passion. Nichole is the director of Sapphire Jazz Ensemble, a newly formed all female big band and is a saxophonist, guest conductor, active clinician and adjudicator in Northern Nevada and California. She received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Colorado where she met her husband Andrew Heglund. Together they have two sons Isaiah and Mathew. She also received a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Co-Founders, Vernon and Karen Scarbrough.
Vernon Scarbrough
Co-Founder of Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra
Colonel (retired) Vernon Scarbrough has spent most of his life in the Reno-Sparks area, attending local schools. It was in the Washoe County School District that he learned his craft as a musician, with an emphasis on the saxophone.
Vern graduated with a Bachelor of Music, with a minor in Music Education from one the country's most prestigious jazz colleges, the University of North Texas.
He received his Master's Degree in Fine Arts, Music Education from Southern Oregon University.
Vern earned a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Scarbrough taught band in the Washoe County School District for twenty-two years and is now retired.
Vern is currently the executive Director of the Reno Jazz Orchestra.
Karen Scarbrough
Co-Founder of Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra
Karen Scarbrough was born and raised in the Reno area and attended local schools, including the University of Nevada. She ultimately received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with an emphasis on Advertising and a minor in Business Administration from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.
Karen worked for three years at the Reno Gazette Journal in the Retail Advertising Department before pursuing a Master's Degree.
Along with her husband Vernon, Karen is a Co Founder of the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra. Looking at the needs of Northern Nevada, Karen and Vernon discovered there to be a Reno Youth Philharmonic and a Nevada Youth Opera Chorus, but no youth jazz programs. So, in 2006, they sought grants and donations and began the RYJO to serve our community's youth jazz needs.
Earning a Master of Arts in Counseling and Education Psychology from the University of Nevada, Karen went on to a her current co-career as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
