45th Annual Jazz Festival is Downtown
Sam Houston State University's School
of Music will host the 45th annual jazz competition on Saturday,
March 29, and this year, the event expands to downtown Huntsville
with food, crafts, classic cars and activity booths as well
as performances by local dance and music groups.
Over 200 high school jazz students from dozens of schools
statewide will perform free concerts each hour throughout
the day in Town Theatre. The festival will be held from 10
a.m. until 5 p.m. along 12th Street between University Avenue
and Avenue J. Musical performances will continue through
9 p.m. in Town Theatre.
Area dance and musical groups will also perform in the street
throughout the day including Faye Burns Dance Studio, Ballet
Folklorico, Kung Foo San Soo, Texas World Dance, Susie Haney
Dance Group, World Exchange Cultural Dance and Twyrl Tyme.
The festival's only ticketed event will be a final concert
beginning at 6 p.m. for $10. Event-goers can enjoy a package
which includes the 6 o'clock concert and a subsequent wine/cheese/heavy
hors d'oeuvres reception for $40 in Richmond Hall. Proceeds
from the final performance and dinner package benefit the
Wynne Home Arts Center fundraising effort currently underway,
which will assist the Huntsville Arts Commission in the conversion
of the historic Wynne mansion into a cultural arts facility.
Professional trombonist Mike Mordecai will serve as the competition's
clinician and will perform during the 6 p.m. concert in Town
Theatre as well as during the private reception in Richmond
Hall following the Town Theatre concert.
Vendors have been enthusiastic about participating in the
event with food, crafts and activities. Main Street, which
is coordinating vendors and local entertainment on the street
hopes that the festival portion of the event, as well as
the partnership formed between the city and the university,
will attract more residents and tourists to the event.
"This is another example of a win-win partnership with the university. The music
department's annual competition should have bigger crowds with the move to downtown
and our help with publicity and festival activities going on in the street," said
Shawn Lewis, Main Street manager.
Event goers can expect several food booths ranging from shrimp
po'boys to funnel cake and turkey legs to cotton candy. Vendors
will also sell a wide variety of products including jewelry,
home and garden décor, patriotic crafts, ceramics,
clothing, puppets, spices, candles, and more.
Main Street intern and event coordinator, Kassandra Brewer,
said, "The good thing about this event is that the crowds
in Town Theatre will be turning over every hour with a new
high school band coming on stage. We should have a built-in
audience, plus all the local people who will want to hear
the music and participate in the activities and shopping.
We've had a lot of positive feedback from participants so
far."
For more information on the Sam Houston Jazz Festival, call
the Huntsville Main Street office at 936.295.2150.
- END -
SHSU Media Contact: Julia
May
Main Street Contact: Shawn
Lewis
March 25, 2003
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