Jazz ensembles to perform with Park Hill South ensemble, host annual festival

Jazz ensembles to perform with Park Hill South ensemble, host annual festival

The sounds of jazz music will fill the Northwest Missouri State University campus this month during a concert featuring University jazz ensembles and the School of Fine and Performing Arts' annual Northwest Jazz Festival, which will feature trumpeter Stan Kessler as this year's guest artist.

All of the performances are free and open to the public.

Northwest's Studio Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble perform a concert and share the stage with the Park Hill South High School Jazz Ensemble at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building.

The Northwest ensembles are conducted by Dr. William Richardson, a Northwest professor of music, while the Park Hill South High School Jazz Ensemble is directed by Northwest alumnus Charles Boyd.

"The Park Hill South Jazz Ensemble is an outstanding group of musicians who play really well," Richardson said. "We are excited to share the stage with them, and it is nice to have Mr. Boyd back on our campus."

Then, Northwest hosts its annual Jazz Festival on Friday, Feb. 13, with 24 middle school and high school ensembles from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri set to perform on the campus. The festival performances begin at 8 a.m. and continue throughout the day in the Charles Johnson Theater as well as the Mary Linn Auditorium at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

"The annual Northwest Jazz Festival brings around 350 prospective students to our campus and is an important service to bands from the four-state region," Richardson said, adding that adjudicators offer ratings, comments and work with each group on stage.

As the festival headliner, Kessler will perform with the Northwest Jazz Ensemble at noon and lead a master class at 12:45 p.m. He will perform with the Northwest Jazz Ensemble again to close the festival at 5 p.m. Each of those performances are in the Charles Johnson Theater.

A schedule of the middle school and high school ensembles performing at the Northwest Jazz Festival is provided below. Funding support for the Northwest Jazz Festival is provided by the University's School of Fine and Performing Arts and the Missouri Arts Council.

About the Northwest jazz ensembles

The Northwest Jazz Ensemble is an audition-based group of musicians dedicated to performing a variety of jazz and commercial music. The ensemble annually sponsors the Northwest District Jazz Band performance and the Northwest Jazz Festival. It also hosts numerous guest artists, who have included Jamey Aebersold, Buddy Baker, Jerry Coker, Roger Neumann, Jay Sollenberger, Willi Thomas, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Gary Foster and Mike Metheny.

The Northwest Studio Jazz Ensemble introduces its members to jazz style and improvisation. The group performs four concerts annually, and enrollment is open to students of all majors with no auditions necessary. Music education students who play secondary instruments or desire to enhance their skills are encouraged to participate.

About Stanton Kessler

Stanton Kessler has been a fixture in the Kansas City jazz scene for decades, working as a trumpet performer and band leader as well as a clinician and educator. He is the founder of The Sons of Brasil, a Kansas City-based Brazilian jazz group.

Kessler is known for his expertise in jazz, R&B, funk and all latin genres, especially brasilian and afro-cuban. He also plays percussion, in addition to extensive writing and arranging for small groups. He has worked on a dozen albums and played with notable musical artists, including Clark Terry, Paquito D'Rivera, Ernie Watts, Gary Foster, Karrin Allyson, Kevin Mahogany, Bobby Watson, John Clayton and Kim Park.

A recipient of numerous accolades, he was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2021. For his work as an educator, he received The Duke Ellington Award for excellence in jazz education in 2023.