SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Evangel University Jazz Orchestra, directed by Joel Griffin, will perform four concerts in two days in Missouri and Texas, March 28-29.
This will be the first ever road tour for the 18-member group, and it features a showcase performance at the 24th annual Temple College Jazz Festival in Temple, Texas.
“This is an amazing opportunity for our students to learn the art of jazz the way it was meant to be learned, on the road,” Griffin said. “Playing these tunes multiple times each day will teach them through experience what can’t be taught in the classroom.”
The Evangel University Jazz Orchestra performs contemporary compositions as well as jazz classics and sacred jazz arrangements. It is made up of students from a wide variety of majors, ranging from music to nursing.
Itinerary
The EU Jazz Orchestra tour will begin early with a Friday morning performance at Diamond High School, in Diamond, Mo.
The students will then pack the bus and drive to Fort Worth, Texas, for an afternoon performance at Easter Hills High School.
The day will culminate with a full concert that night at the rustic Lighthouse Coffee Bar in Midlothian, Texas.
On Saturday morning, the group drives two hours south, where the high point of the weekend will be a showcase performance at the 24th annual Temple College Jazz Festival in Temple, Texas. The event is billed as an entertaining and educational weekend of clinics, competitions and great performances.
The festival ends with a concert performance by The Temple Jazz Orchestra featuring trumpeter Wayne Bergeron.
“It is exciting to do things that have never been done before,” said Griffin, an assistant professor of music. “This sets a precedent and makes way for a better quality educational experience for the jazz students at Evangel.”