Thursday, March 18, 2010

World renowned jazz musicians will perform three concerts as part of the University of North Carolina Wilmington's 28th Annual Guest Artist Jazz Festival, March 25-27. The evening concerts feature performances by Grammy-nominated saxophonist Chris Potter, the Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet and the UNCW Saxtet and UNCW Big Band.

In addition to the concerts, the festival will offer clinics to high school jazz bands. The clinics provide bands and directors the opportunity to work with and be critiqued by guest clinician Jonathan Kreisberg. Clinics will be held from 1-4:30 p.m. Friday, March 26 and from 1-1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 27 in Beckwith Recital Hall. These events are free and open to the public; media are welcome to attend and take photos or video.

"Every year, this festival gives us an exciting opportunity to combine jazz performance and jazz education together in one event," said Frank Bongiorno, UNCW jazz studies coordinator and JazzFest director. "It's a great way to bring together music students and faculty, the university community and the general public, all to learn more about jazz and enjoy great performances."

The following artists will headline this year's JazzFest:

Thursday, March 25: Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
7:30 p.m., Beckwith Recital Hall (Cultural Arts Building on UNCW's campus)
$5 general public / free to UNCW students with ID
Jonathan Kreisberg is an internationally recognized guitarist whose latest release, "The South of Everywhere," spent 15 weeks on the JazzWeek charts. Fresh off a spring tour in Europe, the Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet features Kreisberg, saxophonist Will Vinson, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Mark Ferber.

Friday, March 26: Chris Potter and the Underground
8 p.m., Kenan Auditorium
$22 general public / $18 UNCW faculty/staff / $6 UNCW students
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Chris Potter has been acclaimed by the Chicago Tribune as "one of the most dynamic young players in jazz." Concert co-presented with UNCW Arts in Action Performance Series.

Saturday, March 27: Jonathan Kreisberg with UNCW Saxtet and UNCW Big Band
7:30 p.m., Beckwith Recital Hall
$5 general public / free to UNCW students with ID
Jonathan Kreisberg, UNCW Saxtet and UNCW Big Band will perform the debut of a new work composed for big band by Grammy-nominated composer Gary Lindsay.

Additional support for JazzFest is provided by the UNCW Jazz Festival Endowment, established with a gift from Ann Sherman-Skiba in memory of her husband Günther Skiba.

Media are invited to cover any part of the festival; interviews and visual ops can be arranged on request.

For more information, visit www.uncw.edu/music-calendar or call 910-962-3415.

Media contact:
Ann Seymour, UNCW Department of Music, 910.962.3415 or seymoura@uncw.edu

Photo: Chris Potter