Five College Jazz Festival Returns on April 5-6
AMHERST — The 2024 Five College Jazz Festival, the first since 2019, will feature performances from big bands, small combos, vocal ensembles, and improvising orchestras on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, at UMass Amherst. These groups will feature the interpretive and improvisational skills of Five College students under the direction of the jazz faculty of the Five College campuses.
“The festival is a celebration of the many creative ways we approach the jazz continuum at our campuses,” said David Sanford, Music professor at Mount Holyoke College. “Attending the Five College Jazz Festival offers music lovers on our campuses and in our communities a great opportunity to hear what our students are doing.”
Hosted this year by the UMass Jazz and African American Music Studies program from the department of Music and Dance, the bands will be performing at Bezanson Recital Hall and Tillis Performance Hall, both located in UMass’s Fine Arts Center. The Five College Jazz Festival is free and open to the public.
Performances are scheduled for April 5, 6:30-10 p.m., at Bezanson; and April 6, 8:55 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Bezanson and 2-2:30 p.m. at Tillis. Participating bands include Mount Holyoke Big Band, Mount Holyoke Vocal Jazz Ensemble, UMass Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Smith College Jazz Ensemble, UMass Jazz Lab Ensemble, UMass Graduate Quartet, Amherst College Combo Pinnacles, UMass Chapel Jazz Ensemble, UMass Chamber Jazz Ensembles, and UMass Jazz Ensemble I.
