The 30th Annual Purdue Jazz Festival will be held Jan. 16-18, with more than 110 jazz bands from middle schools and high schools competing at Purdue University on Jan. 18. (Purdue University image) Download imageWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — More than 110 jazz bands from middle schools and high schools across the Midwest have been accepted to compete in the 30th Annual Purdue Jazz Festival on Jan. 16-18.
Festival events will begin Jan. 16 with a free community showcase concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Lafayette. The concert will feature the Purdue Jazz Band, jazz bands from Tippecanoe County, and guest trumpeter Mark Buselli. Throughout the three-day festival, student musicians and the public will have the opportunity to work with and learn from nationally renowned artists. The event will boast several featured concerts as well as competitions, clinics, and other special events.
The international all-star jazz group Artemis will serve as the headliner concert at 8 p.m. Jan. 17 in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse, presented by Purdue Convocations.
On Jan. 18, instrumental jazz ensembles from five states will arrive early on Purdue’s campus for the competition. It will stretch throughout the day in nine performance venues within the Stewart Center, Purdue Memorial Union and Pao Hall. The music will start at 9 a.m. and will continue through 5:30 p.m. These events will be free and open to the public in addition to clinics provided by all of the festival guest artists on Saturday.
Artist-in-residence Mark Buselli will be featured in concert with the Purdue Jazz Band, along with appearances by Tia Fuller and Aubrey Logan, at noon on Jan. 18 in Loeb Playhouse. Guest artists Tia Fuller and Aubrey Logan will headline that day’s festival finale concert with the Purdue Jazz Band at 7 p.m. in Elliott Hall of Music. This event will also be free and open to the community. Awards and honors for the high school performances will be announced at this concert.
For more information on Purdue Jazz Festival events, visit www.purdue.edu/bands/jazzfest2020. To purchase tickets for headliner concerts call 800-914-SHOW.
Contact: Aaron Yoder, director of external relations, yoder50@purdue.edu