Public is Invited to Free Concerts at Berklee Performance Center; Big Bands, Combos, and Vocal Jazz Groups Compete for $100,000 in Scholarships

BOSTON, March 18, 1998 -- Nearly 2,500 student musicians from the northeastern states will converge on the campus of Berklee College of Music for its 30th Annual High School Jazz Festival, on Saturday, March 28, 1998. Musical performances will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 5:00 p.m.

Since its inception in 1968, the Berklee High School Jazz Festival has hosted more than 30,000 students in over 2,000 ensembles. The largest of its kind in the United States, the festival will feature about 170 jazz ensembles this year, including big bands, small combos, and vocal jazz groups from all six New England states, as well as New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The student ensemble performances, at various locations around the campus, will be judged by professional adjudicators, including members of the Berklee faculty. Groups will compete for Best Band trophies, citation plaques, and tuition scholarships totaling $100,000.

The Berklee Performance Center will be the site of several free, public performances that day, including the New England Grammy All-Star Combo, Vocal Jazz Choir, and Big Band from 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. The Student "Grammy Awards" will be presented at 1:15 p.m. Several Berklee student ensembles will also perform during the afternoon, and at 4:30, Seaside Recording artists, the Greg Hopkins Big Band, led by the Berklee Jazz Composition and Professional Writing professor, will close the festival.

Between competitive events, student musicians will have a chance to take part in jam sessions, demonstrations by Berklee professors, and clinics covering a wide range of musical areas and instruments, including jazz piano, voice, guitar and bass, improvisation and MIDI instruments.

Participating students and festival visitors will also get a comprehensive, insider's view of Berklee's various departments and facilities. Open house sessions running throughout the day will be held in Berklee's Film Scoring, Music Production and Engineering, and Music Synthesis Departments, as well as the Media Center and the Berklee Library.

Berklee instructors will also be available at several instrumental open houses.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college and the premier instituion for the study of contemporary music. The college offers fully-accredited four-year baccalaureate degrees or diplomas in such majors as Performance, Composition, Music Production and Engineering, Film Scoring, Music Business/Management, Music Synthesis, Music Therapy, and Music Education. The college's 3,000 students and 300 faculty members interact in an environment designed to provide the most complete learning experience possible. Of all U.S. colleges and universities, Berklee has the largest percentage of undergraduate students from outside the U.S. -- 40 percent -- representing more than 70 countries.

The college's alumni includes many multi-Grammy Award winners, including Quincy Jones, Pat Metheny, Melissa Etheridge, Donald Fagen, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer, Berklee Executive Vice President Gary Burton, "Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Cockburn, and Paula Cole.

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For press information, contact:
Toni Ballard
Office of Public Information
(617) 747-2247
tballard@berklee.edu

For festival information, contact:
Rena Wade, (617) 747-2406