The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) holds its Second Annual MMSD High School Jazz Festival this coming Saturday, December 1, 2012, from 1:00-8:00pm on Saturday, at James Madison Memorial High School’s Buchhauser Auditorium (201 South Gammon Road, kitty corner from West Towne Mall).
The full-day program wraps up with a big public concert beginning at 6:00pm. The concert will feature bands from Madison East, Madison West, Madison Memorial, and Middleton High Schools. Festival clinicians Dr. Johannes Wallmann (UW-Madison) and Dan Wallach (Edgewood College) will be featured soloists, and the evening will conclude with a performance by the UW Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Johannes Wallmann.The purpose of the MMSD High School Jazz Festival is to offer a high-quality, non-competitive festival experience to the high school jazz musicians. The primary goals of the festival are to educate students about jazz music and the music business, offer student the opportunity to play and solo with professional guest musicians, collaborate with other school district music programs and the UW music programs, and create an atmosphere where jazz music is celebrated through a non-competitive structure.
UW Jazz Studies Professor Johannes Wallmann (right) is one of the clinicians and guest soloists for this year’s MMSD High School Jazz Festival
The theme of this year’s educational festival is the music business. Guest speaker Rand Moore will provide the students and the evening’s concert audience with his perspective on the music business and how to be a successful “gigging musician”.
Support for the festival has been provided by the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Madison Jazz Society, and the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to support MMSD Jazz Education. For more information, please contact: Dr. Scott Eckel, Festival Manager, 608-204-3092.
