UAF to host Jazz Fest

April 9, 2011

University Relations

The UAF music department will host the 23rd annual UAF Jazz Fest April 13-16.

This year’s Jazz Fest will draw 456 middle school and high school students and 22 groups from around Alaska for performances and intensive workshops with UAF music faculty members and guest artists.

This year’s performances include a military appreciation concert featuring the U.S. Army Blues Band Wednesday, April 13 at 7 p.m. The Wednesday concert is open only to active duty military members and their families. On Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m., the UAF Jazz Bands will perform with Kathleen Butler-Hopkins and soloists from the U.S. Army Blues Band. Friday will feature performances at 1 p.m. by Jazz Fest participants and at 7 p.m. by the U.S. Army Blues Band. The festival will wrap up on Saturday with a 1 p.m. performance by the festival’s honors ensembles and directors’ big band.

All concerts will be in the Charles W. Davis Concert Hall. Admission is free and the public is welcome at the Thursday-Saturday performances. Free tickets for the Thursday and Friday night concerts will only be available at the box office beginning one hour before the concert. Military families can get tickets for the Wednesday night concert at the Fort Wainwright and Eielson YMCAs.

The 2011 Jazz Fest is dedicated to the memory of Bill Stroecker, an active member of the Fairbanks jazz community, who passed away in late 2010. A lecture on Stroecker will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall, immediately preceding Thursday’s concert.

For additional information, please contact the UAF music department at 474-7555.