More than 85 students from four high schools will perform at the Downtown Brooklyn High School Jazz Festival organized by the music program at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus.
Legendary jazz trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, former sideman with Max Roach and Horace Silver, will perform as a special guest with the LIU Jazz Ensemble and serve as one of the judges at the free event in the campus’ Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts.
The festival will take place on Saturday, May 21 at 12:30 p.m. The Brooklyn Campus is located on Flatbush Avenue, between DeKalb Avenue and Willoughby Street. The event is free and open to the public.
The bands participating in the festival are from Boys and Girls High School, Edward R. Murrow High School, Brooklyn High School for the Arts and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.
“There has been a need for something like this in Brooklyn for a long time,” said Sam Newsome, assistant professor of music at the Brooklyn Campus. “It gives students an opportunity to perform and to meet and hear their peers.”
At the close of the event, the music program will present each student with a certificate of participation and each band director with a plaque.
Visit www.kumbletheater.org for more information about the festival, or contact John West at (718) 488-1084.
For more information about the music program at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, contact Dr. Gloria Cooper, music program coordinator at (718) 488-1450.
