Clark College Jazz festival celebrates 50 years of music

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    January marks the 50th year of the Clark College Jazz Festival which plays host to middle school and high school jazz ensembles for a three-day festival.

    As rich as the heritage of Clark College itself, the Clark College Jazz Festival will host over 60 middle school and high school vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles during the three day celebration. 

    On Thurs., Jan. 26, the Clark College Jazz Festival Middle School Jazz Clinic begins at 8 a.m., with Vocal Jazz performances beginning at 1 p.m. The Clark College Vocal Jazz Showcase will begin at 7 p.m. 

    High school jazz ensemble preliminary competitions for the 2012 festival will take place on Fri.-Sat., Jan. 27-28, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.  On Friday, the Class 1A and 2A division jazz bands will compete with 3A and 4A jazz bands taking the stage on Saturday. Final competitions will begin at 7 p.m., every evening.

    The Clark College Vocal Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Janet Reiter, will perform at 5 p.m., and 8 p.m., on Thursday. The Clark College Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Director of Bands, Richard Inouye, will perform at 11 a.m., on Thursday, noon and 8:30 p.m., on Friday, and noon on Saturday. The 2011 Sweepstakes Band, Roosevelt High School I of Seattle, Washington under the direction of Scott Brown, will hold the spotlight on Saturday evening at 9 p.m.



    Another special event for this year’s festival will be two jazz clinics presented by Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Washington State University in Pullman and Clark alumni, Dave Hagelganz. These clinics will take place on Friday and Saturday morning at 10 a.m., in the Ellis F. Dunn Community Room in Gaiser Hall.

    Admission is $5 per day. Clark College students and children under 12 accompanied by an adult will be admitted free of charge.

    Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Wy., Vancouver.  Gaiser Hall is located on the northwest corner of the main campus on Fort Vancouver Way, between McLoughlin Blvd., and Fourth Plain Blvd. For additional information, visit www.clark.edu/special/jazz_festival.