WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Western Jazz Festival celebrates 25th anniversary March 2, 2005 KALAMAZOO--The 25th annual Western Invitational Jazz Festival, featuring jazz bands and combos from 19 high schools in Michigan and Indiana, is Saturday, March 12, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University. Nearly 400 high school musicians in the invited groups will compete for the honor of being named "Outstanding Band" or "Outstanding Combo" of the festival, and the winners will perform in an evening concert. Festival performances begin at 8 a.m. and continue through 3 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. From 3:15 to 4:30 p.m., guest trumpet artist Randy Brecker will present a performance and clinic. Performances during the day and Brecker's clinic are free and open to the public. The festival concludes with a 7:30 p.m. concert featuring the outstanding high school big band and combo from the day's performances, followed by the University Jazz Orchestra, directed by Scott Cowan and featuring Brecker. Admission for the evening concert is $10. General admission tickets will be on sale at the door and are also available in advance from the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office at (269) 387-2300 or toll-free (800) 228-9858. Brecker has been shaping the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than three decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, George Benson and Parliament-Funkadelics to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, David Sanborn, Horace Silver, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa. The festival is coordinated by Trent Kynaston, WMU professor of music, and is sponsored by the Jazz Studies area in the School of Music and by Delta Iota Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. For more information, call Trent Kynaston at (269) 387-4693. Related story Trumpet sensation Randy Brecker performs in Dalton Media contact: Kevin West, 269 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news