BEMIDJI, Minn. — Bemidji State University’s Jazz I will conclude its performance season with a spring concert as a season finale and in recognition of Jazz Appreciation Month at 3 p.m., Sunday, April 19, in the Thompson Recital Hall of the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. 

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for students.

Jazz I, under the direction of Dr. Darrin Oehlerking, will play an eclectic range of jazz music.  The first half of the program will pay tribute to the great American composer Duke Ellington.  Compositions will include an exhilarating arrangement of the standard “Caravan,” and the less known “V.I.P’s Boogie,” as well as the thoughtful tune “When You’re Smiling.” 

The second half of the concert will feature a mechanical theme, as the ensemble will perform “Brass Machine,” “Wind Machine,” and “The Blues Machine.”  In addition, the band will interpret “Happy Go-Lucky Local,” an Ellington arrangement simulating a long train ride through the South.  This piece will feature several soloists, including Beth Holzhueter of Bemidji, Minn., on clarinet, and Therese Haugen of Cass Lake, Minn., on baritone sax.

Jazz I gives several public performances each semester, including the Remember When Dance each fall, the gala Snow Ball fundraiser in January, and the annual BSU Jazz Festival.

Jazz Appreciation Month
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History established April as Jazz Appreciation Month honoring jazz as a national and world treasure.  In 2003, the U.S. Congress passed a law commending the Smithsonian’s efforts to recognize this beloved art form.  Today, the Smithsonian promotes jazz celebrations across the nation through its Smithsonian Jazz website at www.smithsonianjazz.org.

For more information, contact the Department of Music at (218) 755-2915.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
April 19 – 3 p.m. – Jazz I spring concert presented by Bemidji State University.  Location: Thompson Recital Hall of the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex, BSU campus.  Admission:  $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for students.