RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (February 18, 2008)---The sounds of New Orleans will fill Witherspoon Auditorium on Saturday, March 8, when the Arkansas Tech University Jazz Festival welcomes musicians from around the state and the country to perform and share their affection for a truly American art form.
The festival will include an appearance by jazz woodwind virtuoso Randy Salman, who has performed with such artists as Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett and serves as director of jazz studies at DePauw University (Ind.). Salman will perform as the featured soloist with the Arkansas Tech Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m.
Area high school jazz ensembles will perform throughout the day, and Salman will give the students an open master class at 1 p.m. Students from Dardanelle, Fort Smith, Russellville and Sheridan are already registered for the event.
“We wanted to provide an opportunity for schools with jazz programs to have a place to perform, develop and get the students excited about jazz music,” said Dr. Tim Howe, director of the Arkansas Tech Jazz Ensemble and coordinator for the festival. “Each ensemble will play for a panel of judges, get written feedback and receive a few minutes of coaching from one of the panelists.”
Don Bailey from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and Larry Jones from the University of Central Arkansas will be the judges.
All performances are free and open to the public. For more information, call (479) 968-0476 or send e-mail to thowe@atu.edu.
