The ninth annual Missouri Western State University/Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival on Saturday, Feb. 14 will feature clinics and a performance by The Project H, a 7-piece ensemble recently chosen as Kansas City’s Best Jazz Ensemble by readers of the Pitch. The MWSU Jazz Ensemble will perform at the conclusion of the festival, at 5:15 p.m. in the Fulkerson Center, followed by The Project H. The festival and performances are free and open to the public.
Beginning at 9 a.m., area high school jazz ensembles will perform for adjudicators, receiving written and recorded critiques. Immediately after each performance, the clinicians will give a 25 to 40-minute clinic for the band, discussing and working on specific areas of the performance.
Clinicians are Wayne Page, director of jazz studies at Waukee High School; Dan Stecker, director of bands at Pleasantville High School; Steve Molloy, trumpet instructor at Missouri Western; and Kathleen Holeman, director of Missouri Western’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
Students will also have the opportunity to attend clinics for their specific instruments, conducted by members of The Project H.
The Project H recently released its second CD, “We Live Among the Lines.” When not performing on the road at various jazz festivals, they can be seen regularly in several of the top jazz venues in Kansas City.
For more information, call the Department of Music at 816-271-4420 or email Bob Long, director of jazz studies, at long@missouriwestern.edu.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. 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.