January 13, 2016
Concerts, competitions, special events to enliven Purdue Jazz Festival
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – More than 90 big bands and combos from high schools and middle schools across the state of Indiana and Midwest have been accepted to compete in the 26th Purdue Jazz Festival in West Lafayette on Jan. 23.
Festival events begin Jan. 21 with a free Community Showcase Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Lafayette’s Long Center. This concert will feature the Purdue Jazz Band, jazz bands from Tippecanoe County and guest trumpeter Rob Parton.
Throughout the three-day festival, student musicians and the public will rub shoulders with performers of national renown. It boasts several headliner concerts plus competitions, clinics and special events.
The all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra, led by Sherrie Maricle, serves as the Friday night headliner concert beginning at 8 p.m. Jan. 22, in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse. This event is sponsored by Purdue Convocations.
On Jan. 23, instrumental jazz ensembles from four states arrive early as the competition stretches throughout the day in seven locations in Stewart Center and Purdue Memorial Union. The music starts at 8 a.m. and continues through 5:30 p.m. It’s all free. All the festival guest artists will give clinics, which are also free and open to the public the same day.
Artist-in-residence, Rob Parton will be featured in concert with the Purdue Jazz Band at noon Jan. 23 in Loeb Playhouse. It is free and open to the public.
World-renowned trombonist Conrad Herwig and tenor saxophonist Chip McNeill, the director of jazz studies at the University of Illinois, will headline Saturday’s Festival Finale concert with the Purdue Jazz Band at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 in Loeb Playhouse. Awards and outstanding performances and honors for the high school performances will be announced at this concert. The finale concert is not open to the public as festival participants will occupy the concert hall.
For more information on Purdue Jazz Festival events, contact Jaclyn Heinz at 765-496-6785 or heinzj@purdue.edu To purchase tickets for headliner concerts call 800-914- SHOW.
The 26th Annual Jazz Festival is made possible in part by a grant from the Indianapolis Arts Commission (Tippecanoe Arts Federation) with funding from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts, and many corporate sponsors. For a list of festival sponsors, please click here.
Contact: Courtney Downey, Director of Alumni, Donor & Public Relations|Purdue University Bands & Orchestras, 765-496-3288, cndowney@purdue.edu
