A Bermudian teenager will be performing with some of the world's greatest jazz players this summer, when he tours with the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Ben Lusher, 16, was selected from hundreds of talented young musicians across the United States to be the only solo singer in the 2009 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra (NGJO), the Festival's internationally-renowned high school all-star big band.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest running festivals in the United States. This will be its 52nd year. The festival will be held September 18 to 20 in Monterey, California.

But it has a number of events organised earlier in the summer as part of its education programme.

"They only choose one singer in the country to be part of the NGJO," he said. "I felt it was an enormous accomplishment. It was hard to believe for a little bit."

The Monterey Jazz Festival invited interested students to audition for the NGJO via videotape or in person in April at an NGJO festival held in California.

Members of the orchestra were selected through a rigorous audition process that included review by a national panel of judges comprised of professional jazz musicians and educators.

In the end, 22 students were picked for the band which is under the direction of renowned saxophonist and flautist Paul Contos. The ensemble is dedicated to the study and performance of the most challenging big band literature available.

Mr. Lusher said that many of his friends from a previous music programme, the Grammy Jazz Assemble, were also picked.

"The Grammy Jazz Ensemble was in February," he said. "So far, that was probably the most amazing musical experience of my life. It was similar to NGJO in that it was a national tour. It recognised and looked for young jazz musicians from all over the country."

Mr. Lusher was part of the jazz choir. The group performed during Grammy award week events and did a mini tour of clubs in California. The culmination was attending the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, and performing at the after party.

"Apart from the incredible venues we got to play in — we played with Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano, Terrence Blanchard and Cassandra Wilson," said Mr. Lusher.

He said it was also great to perform with other kids who loved jazz as much as he did.

Mr. Lusher attended Warwick Academy for 11 years. He is now going into his senior year at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

He decided to go abroad for his last years of high school so that he could take part in various music opportunities offered to high school students in the United States.

"I could never apply to a large portion of these programmes because I wasn't an American resident," he said. "When I went to a boarding school in New York those programmes became available to me."

His mother, Jamie, is American. His father is Bermudian Nicholas Lusher.

Mr. Lusher has been studying piano since he was four years old. He was a long-time student at the Bermuda School of Music.

A pivotal moment in Mr. Lusher's career was in 2006 when he won the Bermuda Teen Idol competition at the age of 13.

"After that I took a look at my own musical goals," he said. "Before that I had seen myself as a piano player who also sang. After that I sat back and thought singing is really a viable option.

"It was something that I really want to do with my life."

From there he started entering more music competitions.

"I started singing because it allowed me to really express myself," said Mr. Lusher. "It allows me to convey something or find something out about myself that I couldn't through playing the piano."

Playing at the Monterey Jazz Festival is particularly special for Mr. Lusher because his American grandfather, Jack Flon, was heavily involved with the festival.

"Jazz has been in the family," said Mr. Lusher. "I have been surrounded by it. My grandfather was a jazz piano player."

Mr. Flon lived in California and worked for the keyboard division of Yamaha.

"He was involved in supplying the pianos for the festival," said Mr. Lusher. "My grandmother, Sally, was a singer as well.

"My grandparents are really proud, especially since they have witnessed my musical growth."

The NGJO band will be going on a ten-day tour that kicks off on July 5. They will start in Kansas City, Missouri and end in the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. They will reconvene for the Monterey Jazz Festival itself in September.

"The September performance is the performance I am most excited about," he said. "On September 20 we will playing at the Monterey Jazz Festival alongside Wynton Marsalis.

"As a singer that is extremely daunting to be upfront in front of this big band standing alongside one of the greatest trumpet players in the world.

"He has become the face of jazz education, and the voice of the music. Being alongside him is something I am really looking forward to."

He said he also a little nervous because this gig will be one of his first where he is not accompanying himself on the piano. Instead, he will be upfront singing.

Mr. Lusher admitted that it is a challenge sometimes to keep up with his school work while travelling with bands like The Grammy Jazz Ensemble.

"My school has been great about giving me leniency," he said. "I have done my part in making up the work. It is a bit of a struggle sometimes."

But he thought it would be good preparation for later in life.

Mr. Lusher hopes to pursue a career as a singer, songwriter and composer.

"I want to blend classical and modern influences into something that is listenable and accessible and fun while musicians can still say 'this is something I'd listen to'."

For more information about the NGJO, visit http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/2009/NGJO/index.php.