NJF: Join in the Festivities: The 1st Annual Nebraska Jazz Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE in December 2005 Join in the Festivities: The 1st Annual Nebraska Jazz Festival The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra is pleased to announce the first annual Nebraska Jazz Festival. The two-day festival of clinics, master classes, adjudications, and performances will be held on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18, 2006 at the Rogers Center for Fine Arts on the Nebraska Wesleyan University campus in Lincoln, NE (located at 50th & Huntington Street). Instrumental jazz ensembles from schools throughout the region will participate in the two-day jazz festival. Clinicians and judges will include Nebraska Jazz Orchestra musicians and renowned guest artists from across the region. In addition to adjudication and clinics for ensembles, master classes will be held for saxophone, trombone, trumpet, guitar, bass, piano, and percussion sections. This is a “non-competitive” festival and winners will not be announced. Directors will have the option of receiving comments only or comments and a rating. Awards will be given for outstanding soloists and musicians. The festival also features two exciting jazz performances. The NJF All-Star concert, on Friday, March 17, at 7:30pm, will feature festival clinicians and guest artists in a small group setting. The 17-piece Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, featuring guest artists, will perform on Saturday, March 18, at 7:30pm. Tickets for the NJF All-Star Concert, are: $15/adult, $12/senior. Tickets to the Saturday evening performance are $20/adult, $18/seniors. NJF participants receive discount tickets. NJO season ticket holders will be admitted free. All concerts will be held at the O’Donnell Auditorium in the Rogers Center for Fine Arts on the campus of Nebraska Wesleyan University. To order tickets, please call the business office at (402) 477-8446. Guest artists include: Earlie Braggs, Brian Grasmick, Joey Gulizia, and David Sharp. Mr. Braggs is a trombonist who resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and has spent many years traveling the U.S. and Europe. He has played with noted artists such as Della Reese and Cab Calloway. Mr. Grasmick is a trumpet player, music educator, and Nebraska native. He has played with several musical groups including the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and with artists such as Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bob Hope. Mr. Gulizia is a percussionist who has been performing since the age of ten. He has played with countless ensembles, including on cruise ships and around the world, and is a teaching artist with the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Scholars Institute. Saxophonist and woodwind specialist, Mr. David Sharp, is the Instructor of Instrumental Music and Jazz at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. Mr. Sharp plays regularly with several regional groups, as well as for touring Broadway shows and has played with renowned artists such as Mel Torme, Rod Stewart, The Temptations, and The Glen Miller Orchestra. This event is sponsored in part by Dietze Music, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the Lincoln Arts Council, the Nebraska Arts Council, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, and Arts Incorporated. For more information and applications please visit www.artsincorporated.org/njf. Contact: Michelle Kiefel, marketing Phone: (402) 477-8446

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