The University of Portland’s 54th Annual Jazz Festival takes place April 11 and 12 as bands from all over the region come together to perform and express their love of jazz music.
The festival showcases excellent student musicians as well as guest artists from around the nation, all contributing to a vibrant festival of jazz and the celebration of music performance and education on campus. Since it began, the Festival has grown in size every year, becoming known as a premier student jazz event in the Pacific Northwest.
For the first time in the 54 years of the Jazz Festival at UP, students will participate in an Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) Jazz Festival, which is a qualifier for state championships here at UP. Throughout the two days, there will be twenty-two middle school and high school bands performing, each band consisting of sixteen to eighteen musicians. In addition to this, the UP Jazz Ensemble will perform both days.
This year’s featured artist is trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, who was born in Vancouver and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She graduated from Berklee College of Music. She has appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” performed with Grammy winner Terri-Lyne Carrington, and recorded with Sarah McLachlan. On top of all this, she also leads her own quintet, quartet, and organ trio.
For more information contact performing and fine arts at x7228 or pfa@up.edu.
The University of Portland Jazz Festival will take place in the Chiles Center on Wednesday, April 12 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Thursday, April 13 (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Performance and free and open to all.