The Villanova Jazz Festival provides local high school and college jazz ensembles with an opportunity to compete and share musical experiences with one another. Students also get the opportunity to learn from some of the most noted jazz musicians in the nation. Each Jazz Festival has one or more concerts by jazz greats who at past festivals have included Randy Brecker, Denis Diblasio, Jon Faddis, Ellis Marsallis, Nestor Torres, Allen Vizzutti, and Maynard Ferguson.
2013 marks the 52nd Annual Villanova Jazz Festival.
This year's guest artist will be Lew Tabackin. Lew Tabackin, flutist and tenor saxophonist, is an artist of astonishing vision. His electrifying flute playing is recognized as at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument - melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically. Without copying or emulating jazz greats of the past, Mr. Tabackin has absorbed elements into his style, ultimately creating his own sound and aura.
The festival schedule is shown below. For more information contact Bill Whitaker, Jazz Festival Director.
- March 23, 2013 - Connelly Center, Villanova Room
- Collegiate Big Band Festival begins at 12:30
- 12:30 Introductions & Festival Opening
- 1:00 LaSalle
- 1:30 Carnegie Mellon
- 2:00 Norfolk State #2
- 2:30 UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County)
- 3:00 St. Joe's
- 3:30 Norfolk State #1
- 4:00 Central Connecticut State
- 4:30 Clinic/workshop with Lew Tabackin and Awards
- 12:30 Introductions & Festival Opening
- Evening Concert with Lew Tabackin
- 7:30 Performance includes the 1st Place Combo, 1st Place Jazz Band, and the Lew Tabackin Trio
- Tickets for the public are $10 and can be purchased at the door. Villanova Students are free with a valid ID.
- Collegiate Big Band Festival begins at 12:30
Past Villanova Jazz Festivals Participants
Recent participants have included:
Colleges/Universities
Ashland University
Boston University
Bucknell University
Carnegie Mellon University
Central Connecticut State
Grove City College
Johns Hopkins University
Millersville University
Norfolk State University
North Carolina Central University
Penn State
St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
SUNY Oswego
Temple University
US Naval Academy Band
University of the Arts
University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of Massachusetts
University of North Carolina
Westfield State University
Yale University
High Schools
Lower Merion High School
Mamaroneck High School
Neshaminy High School
North Penn High School
Pennsbury High School
Radnor High School
Saucon Valley High School
Springfield High School (Montgomery Cty, PA)
State College Area High School
West Philadelphia Catholic High School
Xavier High School
