About Us
About Jâca
Brief Bio (67 words)
Jâca is an award-winning clarinet/guitar duo that combines world music, virtuosity, and humor to bring an adventurous, passionate, and completely original musical style to the stage. Jaca combines the intimacy of an instrumental duo with a larger-than-life energy to create an experience that consistently leaves audiences buzzing. “At a Jâca concert you’re not just a bystander, you feel a part of it.” – Humans of Chamber Music.
Medium Bio (293 words)
Jâca is an award-winning clarinet/guitar duo that combines world music, virtuosity, and humor to bring an adventurous, passionate, and completely original musical style to the stage. Jaca combines the intimacy of an instrumental duo with a larger-than-life energy to create an experience that consistently leaves audiences buzzing. “At a Jâca concert you’re not just a bystander, you feel a part of it.” – Humans of Chamber Music.
Described as an “alluring and stunning combination” (Take Effect) Jâca’s music is truly a unique fusion that fits into no single genre. From Flamenco to Fado, Appalachia to Argentina, and guitar slides to clarinet smears, the duo explores the highest limits of what their instruments can do. Their debut album, Breakthrough (Navona, 2022), has been honored by worldwide organizations including the International Portuguese Music Awards (Best Instrumental Performance 2023), and the International Clarinet Association.
Portuguese-Canadian clarinetist Wesley Ferreira is an acclaimed soloist and orchestral musician. He always brings his infectious positivity, big smile, and way too many reeds to every rehearsal. Dividing time between his home in Spain and his native USA, guitarist Jaxon Williams is an active performer of both Classical and Spanish Flamenco styles. He also knows more about fingernail care than a certified beautician and can slap on a fake nail in 5 minutes or less.
Since 2018, Jâca has brought their infectious charm to arts series and music festivals across the USA and worldwide. They have played in prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and have been featured on national television and radio in Portugal, Ecuador, and the USA. Press outlets have described the duo as being “at the forefront of an exciting new wave of chamber music groups” (Sneak Preview), and praises Jâca for “pushing classical music forward” (Culturs: Global Multicultural Magazine).
Dividing their time between the USA, Canada, Spain, and Portugal, this 21st-century duo represents the limitless potential of an interconnected world.
Long Bio (565 words)
Jâca is an award-winning clarinet/guitar duo that combines world music, virtuosity, and humor to bring an adventurous, passionate, and completely original musical style to the stage. Jâca combines the intimacy of an instrumental duo with a larger-than-life energy to create an experience that consistently leaves audiences buzzing. “At a Jâca concert you’re not just a bystander, you feel a part of it.” – Humans of Chamber Music.
Described as an “alluring and stunning combination” (Take Effect) Jâca’s music is truly a unique fusion that fits into no single genre. From Flamenco to Fado, Appalachia to Argentina, and guitar slides to clarinet smears, the duo explores the highest limits of what their instruments can do. Their debut album, Breakthrough (Navona, 2022), has been honored by worldwide organizations including the International Portuguese Music Awards (Best Instrumental Performance 2023), and they are recipients of the International Clarinet Association Special Recognition Award for their contributions to the clarinet world through creativity and engagement in the online sphere.
Portuguese-Canadian clarinetist Wesley Ferreira is an acclaimed soloist and orchestral musician. He brings infectious positivity, a big smile, and way too many reeds to every rehearsal. Dividing time between his home in Spain and his native USA, guitarist Jaxon Williams is an active performer of both Classical and Spanish Flamenco styles. He also knows more about fingernail care than a certified beautician and can slap on a fake nail in 5 minutes or less.
Having achieved the highest degrees in the music field, Dr. Ferreira and Dr. Williams are also well-known in their sectors as sought-after educators and presenters (just don’t expect their help when a doctor’s needed on a plane). In addition to the duo’s outreach programs, Wesley is an Professor of Clarinet at Colorado State University’s School of Music, and Jaxon has spent over 10 years as regional director of an educational nonprofit that implements free guitar programs in underfunded schools. Jâca is passionate about adding meaning to their music. In 2019 they founded the 501c3 nonprofit Jâca Cultural Exchange Program (JCEP) to share culture and support underserved musical communities worldwide. They also created the Emerging Composers Competition to create new music for clarinet and guitar, which has been responsible for more clarinet/guitar music than any other initiative of its kind, and has been recognized worldwide by press outlets including the Kuwait Times, Ottawa Life Magazine, and the Chattanooga Pulse.
Since 2018, Jâca has brought their infectious charm to arts series and music festivals worldwide in North America, South America, and Europe. They have played in prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and have been featured on national television and radio in Portugal, Ecuador, and the USA. Press outlets have described the duo as being “at the forefront of an exciting new wave of chamber music groups” (Sneak Preview) and presenters have raved about their rapport with audiences and their stellar educational outreach programs. “The evening concert, which many audience members said was the best of our season, left everyone wildly applauding. I think your duo is stellar and, no doubt we will be thankful we knew you before you became REALLY famous.” (Sunburst Arts) "Jača created some of the best student engagement I have seen in my eight years as an education director.” (Kay Hilton, Britt Music & Arts Festival)
Dividing their time between the USA, Canada, Spain, and Portugal, this 21st-century duo represents the limitless potential of an interconnected world.
Values
Innovation
Exchange
Outreach
We redefine the traditional concert experience. We aim to break down the formal barrier between audience and performer by infusing our performances with energy, dialogue, virtuosity, and humor to create an impactful event that audience members will remember.
While presenting our music around the world, we give back a percentage of our merchandise proceeds to the cultures that we share music with. Additionally, the Jâca Cultural Exchange Program (JCEP) has a fund which is set up to provide unique musical opportunities to those in need in the USA and abroad.
We believe it’s important to impact the communities we visit. We always offer a community outreach-based residency program to complement our concert performances.
Diversity
Artistry
Entertainment
We want our music to be a reflection of ourselves. As musicians from multicultural backgrounds, we aim to highlight influences within Western Classical music that are from diverse communities.
We value all aspects of artistry in music, including creativity, expression, virtuosity, and innovation.
We craft our concerts with the audience in mind. Whether it’s to experience music of many cultures, to laugh, to be inspired, or simply to have a relaxing night out, audiences want to be entertained. Jâca aims to serve those needs with a side of sweet potato fries!
Wesley Ferreira
With a charismatic blend of technical flair, polish, and grace, Portuguese-Canadian clarinetist Wesley Ferreira draws in audiences with his unabashed joy and passion for storytelling through music. He is widely considered a gifted expressionist whose engaging personality connects with people in an authentic and meaningful way and has been praised by critics for his “beautiful tone” and “technical prowess” (The Clarinet Journal) as well as his “remarkable sensitivity” (CAML Review). Fanfare Magazine notes, Ferreira is “clearly a major talent."
Wesley leads an active and diverse career performing worldwide as soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, and as an engaging adjudicator, and clinician. Recent performances have taken him to Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, and Spain. Additionally, he has been broadcast nationally on RTP television in Portugal and on radio with the CBC in Canada and ABC in Australia. His discography now totals eleven, including the 2013 East Coast Music Award winner – Classical Recording of the Year. Currently based in the United States, he is part of the renowned faculty of Colorado State University’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance where he maintains a thriving clarinet studio.
Wesley’s commitment to collaboration and advancing his field is further demonstrated when he was tapped by Selmer Paris in 2017 to be a lead consultant and team-developer on a new line of clarinets. In October 2021, the Muse professional clarinet was released to critical acclaim.
Wesley received his advanced musical training at the University of Western Ontario (B.M) and Arizona State University (M.M. and D.M.A) studying with Robert Riseling and Robert Spring, respectively. His industry endorsements include positions on the performing artist rosters of Selmer Paris and Vandoren. Wesley performs exclusively on Selmer Muse clarinets, the Vandoren BD4 mouthpiece, V21 reeds, and gold M/O ligature. To learn more, visit: www.wesleyferreira.com
Jaxon Williams
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Hailed as a “Rising Star in the Guitar World” (Corvallis Arts Review), Jaxon Williams is an acclaimed classical guitarist and pedagogue. A prizewinner in various international competitions, Jaxon is praised as “a player of rare power and grace” (William Kanengiser, GRAMMY award winning LAGQ), having “a refined musicianship, solid technique, and an engaging stage presence” (Frank Koonce, guitar scholar and publisher), and is a sought-after performer of the classical guitar. He is also a former Fulbright scholar, having studied in Spain, where he mastered the Spanish guitar repertoire and learned Flamenco guitar with maestros Paco Cortés and Adam del Monte. Currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Jaxon serves as California Regional Director for the nonprofit Lead Guitar (www.leadguitar.org), where he implements classical guitar programs in low-income schools, trains new teachers, and supervises existing programs. He is also one half of the duo Jâca (www.jacamusic.com), which actively performs on the concert stage worldwide. Jaxon received his master’s in guitar performance from Arizona State University and is completing his doctorate in guitar performance from the University of Southern California, where he also was awarded a graduate teaching assistantship. Jaxon plays a guitar built by luthier Paulino Bernabé of Madrid, Spain.
To learn more about Jaxon Williams, please visit his website: www.jaxonwilliamsmusic.com