The Jazz Ensembles at the University of Minnesota, Morris will host the 30th annual Jazz Fest April 3-5. Several hundred area high school jazz musicians will join UMM and alumni jazzers, along with two guest artists, during the three-day event. Daytime instructional clinics will pair high school students with guest artists, Byron Stripling and Eric Marienthal. The event will be capped by a public performance, featuring Stripling and Marienthal, each evening at 7:30 p.m. in Edson Auditorium of the Student Center.
Admission for each performance is $14 for adults, $8 for children and senior citizens and $5 for UMM students.
Trumpeter Byron Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, as well as being featured soloist on the PBS television special, "Evening at Pops," with conductors John Williams and Lockhart. Stripling serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Stripling has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country, soloing with Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and many more. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and performs at jazz festivals throughout the world. Television viewers have enjoyed his work as soloist on the worldwide telecast of “The Grammy Awards.” Millions have heard his trumpet and voice on television commercials and theme songs including "20/20," CNN and movie soundtracks. Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson and Buck Clayton in addition to The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and The GRP All Star Big Band. A resident of Ohio, Stripling lives with his wife, former dancer, writer and poet, Alexis, and their daughters.
After Eric Marienthal graduated high school, he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., with the legendary saxophone professor, Joe Viola, and achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. In 1995, Marienthal was awarded the Berklee Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievements in contemporary music, and has since gone on to perform in over 65 different countries, recorded 11 solo CDs and played on hundreds of records, films, television shows and commercial jingles. Marienthal has performed with artists such as Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis, Dave Grusin and Lou Rawls, among others.
Every summer for the past eight years Marienthal has held an annual fundraising concert for High Hopes, a non-profit organization in Orange County, Calif., that works with people who have suffered traumatic head injuries. With the help of many guest artists who have donated their time to perform, these concerts have raised well over a half million dollars for this charity.
Read more about Jazz Fest and the UMM Jazz Ensembles by visiting
Jazz Ensembles.
To obtain tickets for public performances contact the Office of Student Activities at UMM, (320) 589-6080.
PHOTO: Eric Marienthal
