The Julián and Friends composers showcase, created to celebrate and serve as a platform for composers-instrumentalists, is in its third year at the Jazz Showcase. Each presentation in the series seeks to expand the intergenerational conversation of Black American Music with experimental and forward thinking original programs.
Featured Artist Thomas Milovac
Thomas Milovac (b. 1997 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was born into a musical family and found a lifelong passion for performing and composing from an early age. He performed throughout middle school and high school band programs on various instruments including tenor saxophone, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, timpani, and the instruments closest to his heart, the double bass and bass guitar.
Upon graduating high school in 2016, Thomas went on to study at the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville, FL. At UNF, he studied under composer Gary Smart, pianist Lynne Arriale, and bassists Dennis Marks, Jason Lindsay, and Doug Wieland. Thomas also performed with UNF's Jazz Ensemble One, Jazz Combo One, the UNF Orchestra, the UNF Concert Band, and UNF Chamber Ensemble. He received the award of "Most Outstanding Musician" from the school of music every academic year. Thomas graduated from the school of music at UNF in the summer of 2020 with his B.M in Jazz Studies.
In 2018, Thomas Milovac created and curated the Backroom Series in Jacksonville, Florida. The series presented concerts of improvised and creative music in Thomas's home and various venues around Jacksonville. The series played hosts to artists such as Jack Wright and Ron Stabnisky, B|_ank, Zach Rowden, Majid Araim, and Adam Goodwin. The Backroom Series ceased in 2020 with a large archive of concerts on their YouTube page.
Thomas founded the Cosmo Sonic Collective in 2021 upon his move to his current home base of Orlando, Florida. Cosmo Sonic is a platform for artists around the world to present their vanguard work. The Cosmo Sonic Collective record label has focused on releasing works of improvised music. Artists that have released music on Cosmo Sonic include Paul* Hermansen, Syoma Klochko, and Taylor Rouss.
Julián Pujols Quall
A Dominican-American pianist and composer from Chicago, Julián´s journey started with the Caribbean rhythms of their childhood. A classically trained artist, their work found a home in jazz performance, improvisation, and collaboration.
Julián is a recent Jazz Performance graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where they studied with Warren Wolf as a recipient of the Merit School of Music's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory Blue Ribbon Scholarship. As a solo pianist they have studied at the Aspen Music Festival, Gijón Piano Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Colburn Piano Festival.
As a founding member of the Peabody Improvisers Collective Julián developed experimental collaborative programs and has been creating and performing improvisational music for ballet, modern and West-African dance programs in Baltimore and Chicago for the last three years. In addition to Julián and Friends, they formed Mamey, a music project that seeks to deepen the understanding of the influence the Caribbean arts have had in their musical creative journey and to honor beautiful Dominican traditions and cultural resilience, as they strive to promote new and vibrant art. They are a Carrier Records artist, 2024 South Arts Jazz Road Tours Artist, Yarn/Wire Institute participant and Full-tuition scholarship Banff Center for the Arts Jazz and Sonic Arts awardee, as well as a Night Out in the Parks Art Partner, After School Matters teaching artist, and a member of the 2024 cohort of the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship.
TICKETS
General Admission $20
VIP $30
Student Tickets $15
Available at the door ONLY with valid student ID
