The Music Department of Missouri Western State University will host their 14th Annual MWSU/Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival Thursday, February 13, featuring the KC Reeds and Rhythm.
During the day school groups will be performing in Blum 219 and the Fulkerson Center. This year’s festival will feature 16 school groups from around the Midwest. Each ensemble performs for the adjudicators, receiving recorded and written critiques of the performance from the clinicians. Immediately following each band’s performance, the clinicians will give a 25-40 minute clinic for the band, discussing and working on specific areas of the performance.
Bob Long, MWSU Director of Jazz Studies, states the primary focus and commitment of this festival is making this an educational and musical experience for students and directors alike. Clinicians for this year are Jim Mair, director of jazz studies, Kansas City, Kansas Community College; Dick Redmond, Pella, Iowa; Steve Molloy, trumpet instructor, Missouri Western; and Kathleen Holeman, director of the Vocal Jazz, Missouri Western.
The KC Reeds and Rhythm is an outgrowth of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Its make-up is the sax section of the KCJO as well as the rhythm section. They play in the style of another iconic group of this arrangement, Super Sax. The KC Reeds and Rhythm performs at schools and in concert across the region. Members of the KC Reeds and Rhythm will being presenting clinics during the day.
Local ensembles that will be performing are Benton and Central High Schools of the St. Joseph School District, and Mid-Buchanan High School.
The festival will conclude with a short concert by the Missouri Western Jazz Ensemble and the KC Reeds and Rhythm.
The festival will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the final performance will kick off at 5:50 p.m. The public is invited to attend this full day of jazz. There is no admission charge for the day.
For more information please contact the Music Department at 816-271-4420, or long@missouriwestern.edu.
Missouri Western State University is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.