The Band — Star of the North Jazz Orchestra

Chris Allen, Bass Trombone

A native of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Chris Allen maintains an active career as a freelancer and educator in the area. You can regularly hear Chris performing with The Paper Clips Trombone Quartet, Mankato Symphony, Metro Brass, Star of the North Jazz Orchestra, Century Jazz Ensemble, and St. Croix Jazz Orchestra. Outside of his regular ensembles, he has performed with Lake Wobegon Brass Band, Sheldon Theatre Brass Band, Bill Simenson Orchestra, Compass Rose Brass Ensemble, Encore Wind Ensemble, and many others

You can hear Chris’ musicianship on The Paper Clips debut album, Motown Trombone Sound, as well as Home Remedy from the Century Jazz Ensemble.

Chris is an artist for Rath Trombones

Jen Burleigh-Bentz, Featured Vocalist, Social Media Director

Jen Burleigh-Bentz is a gifted actor and singer based in the vibrant Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota. With a wealth of experience in music and theater, she has taken to stages across the United States as well as internationally, showcasing her prowess as both a performer and an entrepreneur. Each month, Jen curates her own cabaret at Metronome Brewing in downtown Saint Paul, spotlighting the best local actors, singers, and musicians. As the featured vocalist for the Star of the North Jazz Orchestra, she enchants audiences with her powerful voice and mesmerizing stage-presence drawing on her decades of experience singing Jazz.

www.jenburleigh-bentz.com

Ben Bussey, Trombone

Ben Bussey is a musician whose training and experience span a wealth of genres and reflect a keen interest in developing and supporting new music and emerging artists.

Based in the Twin Cities, he is a founding member of the Paper Clips Trombone Quartet. Ben’s current creative projects also include Heavy Metal Brass Band, Star of the North Jazz Orchestra, and the Encore Wind Ensemble. He serves at the MacPhail Center for Music as a teaching artist and Interim Director, School Partnerships.

A mainstay of the midwest brass scene, Ben performs regularly with Shaun Johnson, The New Standards, The Shabby Road Orchestra, and The Belfast Cowboys, and may be found in musical pits at Lyric Arts, Park Square Theater, and Artistry, MN. He has been fortunate to share the stage with luminaries like Mayito Rivera, Catherine Russell, Michael Davis, Chuck Lazarus, Jeremy Messersmith, Big Star, and many more. Learn more at www.tromboneben.com

Chris Fulton, Trombone

Patrick Gonsalves, Trumpet, Co-Founder & Personnel Manager

Patrick started his musical journey in the 5th grade band where he wanted to play the drums. His mother said no and told him to pick something quieter. So, he brought home a trumpet, kicking off a lifetime of making music in every style imaginable; rock, jazz, musical theater, marching band, concert band and orchestral. On occasion he’s even been known to sing a song or two.

Patrick earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH, a Master of Music degree from Ohio State, and was working toward a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota when he was deployed to Iraq as a member of the 34th Infantry Division in 2005. In 2009 he returned to Iraq for a second deployment, this time with the 34th Infantry Division Band.

Paul Gronert, Alto Sax

Paul Gronert holds a Bachelor's degree in music education and another in music performance from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. While at Lawrence University, he won the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Lawrence University Saxophone Quartet. He also holds a Masters' degree in Music Performance from Michigan State University where he studied saxophone with Joe Lulloff and Branford Marsalis. Mr. Gronert was elected to the State Board of the Minnesota Band Director’s Association where he served as President. He currently serves as President of the board of the Minnesota Youth Symphony. As an active performer, Mr. Gronert plays saxophone in a number of rock, jazz and classical groups throughout the Twin Cities including the Belfast Cowboys, Mark Joseph and the American Soul, Parrothead Paradise, Vintage Vegas, Star of the North Jazz Orchestra and more.

Mitch Hare, Piano

Tim Hoffman, Trumpet, Co-Founder & Music Director

Timothy Hoffman is the Instrumental Music Director at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, MN, as well as the director of the Totino-Grace Fine Arts Academy. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, with a degree in Music Education with a major in trumpet and minors in piano and percussion. In his tenure, the Totino-Grace Bands have toured domestically and internationally, including Vancouver, Germany, Norway, Costa Rica, Malta, Puerto Rico, Portugal and Peru in 2026. In 2003 he was awarded the ASBDA Distinguished Young Band Director Award. In addition to teaching private trumpet and composing/arranging lessons, Mr. Hoffman is also a professional freelance trumpet player and composer/arranger in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and music director for the ‘Star of the North Jazz Orchestra’, a professional big band in the Twin Cities. He has performed for Disneyland, Mall of America, and with such notable musicians as The Temptations, Sam Moore, Bobby Vinton, Bob Florence, Matt Harris, Sammy Nestico and Allen Vizzutti.

Eric Johnson, Trombone

Ryan Lodgaard, Drums

Tim Martin, Trumpet

Our lead trumpet, Tim Martin has been teaching for 29 years in the Minneapolis Schools, the last 16 years at Washburn High School as the Band, Orchestra and Jazz Director. According to Tim, the best part of every day is “teaching young people how to be citizens in their communities with music, through band, orchestra and jazz.“ He also conducts the Northeast Community Band, an 80-plus member community ensemble he founded 28 years ago, performing several concerts throughout the year.

Tim has performed and recorded with many groups, most notably The Belfast Cowboys, the Northside Horns, Mark Joseph and American Soul, the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, Beacon Hill Brass, and many other jazz ensembles. Tim has also had the pleasure to share the stage with Tom “Bones” Malone, Billy Bragg, Graham Parker, The Ike Reilly Assassination, Billy McLaughlin, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Foster, Steve Houghton, and Bryan Duncan.

Sean Miller, Alto Sax

Daryk Narum, Bari Sax

Jeff Nordquist, Trumpet

Jeff Nordquist has been freelancing in the Twin Cities for over 25 years. He’s played hundreds of shows at Chanhassen Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater Company, and a number of concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also been in the local orchestra for national tours of The Temptations and Hugh Jackman. He currently plays in Parrothead Paradise (a Jimmy Buffett tribute band), the Metro Brass Quintet, Star of the North Jazz Orchestra, and at several churches. In his spare time, he has a day job working at Stitch Fix (on the iOS app - he is not allowed to pick out clothes for anyone!).

Lindy Pederson, Guitar

Lindy Pederson is a Minneapolis based guitarist adept at Blues, Rock, Jazz and Country. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Morris, and played guitar in the UMM Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Dr. James Carlson. In addition to Star of the North Jazz Orchestra, Lindy currently performs with The Cheese Bots, a trio playing classic hits, blues favorites and jazzy renditions of popular tunes.

Terry Peffer, Tenor Sax

Originally from Mandan, ND, Terry earned undergraduate Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Mary in Bismarck, Noth Dakota and a Masters of Music degree in Saxophone Performance at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the jazz studies area. He performed 5 nights a week as a part of the jazz house band at the legendary "Phoenix Jazz Bar & Grill" in Kansas City. Terry has toured and recorded with Nightlife and the Way Hot Horns, Trope label swing band Kings of Pleasure and Tim Whitmer and the KC Express. Other professional experiences include engagements with the Jay McShann Quintet, Claude "Fiddler" Williams Quintet, Kevin Mahogany, Karrin Allyson, Tom "Bones" Malone combo and jazz organist Everette DeVan. Terry is an Independent Insurance Producer with One Source Insurance Brokers in Minneapolis, and is a freelance musician around the United States. He can currently be seen performing with "The Good, The Bad & The Funky", "Star of the North Jazz Orchestra" and the Ignite Contemporary Worship band.

Meet the Band.