The Jazz Showcase Will be the First Concert of the Season for Several of BYU’s Nationally Recognized Jazz Groups
Several of BYU’s jazz performance groups will get together for their first concerts of the season. BYU Synthesis, Jazz Ensemble, Syncopation, Jazz Legacy Band, Jazz Lab Band and Q’d Up are each set to perform several songs in the “Joyful Jazz” showcase on September 28. The performance will have something for everyone, from classic staples of the genre to exciting arrangements that will be new to many listeners.
Synthesis, now under the direction of Benjamin Nichols, will perform two songs for the showcase, including John Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament” as arranged by Conrad Herwig.
BYU’s Jazz Ensemble is directed by BYU School of Music Assistant Director Mark Ammons. The Jazz Lab Band is directed by Todd Campbell. These student ensembles typically focus on music from across the last 100 years of jazz, from the big band era through contemporary jazz.
Syncopation director Hayley Kirkland said, “This is an exciting and unique year for the BYU vocal jazz ensemble Syncopation.” There are now two Syncopation vocal ensembles — a six-voice mixed ensemble and a 10-voice women’s ensemble.
Syncopation’s mixed group will perform a “burning fast arrangement” of “Come Rain or Come Shine” and the women’s group will perform the bossa nova “Corcovado.”
BYU’s Jazz Legacy Band, directed by Kirsten Bromley, will be playing a medley featuring songs from the early swing eras of jazz. The medley will include the classic New Orleans jazz standard “Bourbon Street Parade” as well as Duke Ellington’s “It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got that Swing.”
BYU’s faculty jazz performance group Q’d Up, made up of several faculty members with years of experience, is also set to perform.
“As a special pre-concert treat, the student jazz combos will be performing in the Main Gallery outside the de Jong concert hall leading up to the start of the concert,” said Ammons. “It will definitely be an evening of joyful jazz.”
Bromley said, “It's going to be hard to not smile big, dance in your seat and go home feeling really happy.”
Tickets and Show Details
Performance Dates and Times:
- Wednesday Sept. 28, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.
Location: de Jong Concert Hall
Price: $8–9
Tickets: Available in person at the BYU HFAC Ticket Office, by phone at (801) 422-2981 or online.