Annual Jazz Concert at Roxbury's Highland Park Features The Bill Pierce Collective August 2

BOSTON, July 13, 2015 -- Berklee College of Music and the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department present the Bill Pierce Collective at the annual, free Jazz at the Fort concert, Sunday, August 2, 5:00 p.m., at Roxbury’s Highland Park. After the Berklee City Music All-Stars open the concert, the Bill Pierce Collective will perform a jazz set built around saxophone and organ.

A Berklee alumnus and faculty member, Pierce is a celebrated saxophonist and educator who appears on more than 70 albums and has performed with Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, and many others. The Bill Pierce Collective features Pierce on saxophone; Rollins Ross, a Berklee alumnus, on organ; Jeffrey Lockhart, Berklee faculty member, on guitar; and Ralph Peterson, Berklee faculty member, on drums.

Entryways to Highland Park are on Fort Avenue or Beech Glen Street in Roxbury. The park is wheelchair-accessible. Parking is available at Columbus Avenue and Cedar Street in the Roxbury Community College lot. The park is also a short walk from the MBTA Roxbury Crossing Station. In the event of rain, the concert will move to Roxbury Community College’s Media Arts Center, 1234 Columbus Avenue.

Jazz at the Fort is part of Berklee’s Summer in the City series, made possible by presenting sponsor Natixis Global Asset Management, with musical performances by Berklee musicians in neighborhoods throughout Boston. For more information on Jazz at the Fort and other Berklee Summer in the City events, visit berklee.edu/events/summer.

About Berklee College of Music:

Berklee College of Music, a non-profit educational institution, was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For 70 years, the college has evolved to reflect the current state of the music industry, leading the way with baccalaureate studies in performance, music business/management, songwriting, music therapy, film scoring, and more. With a focus on global learning, Berklee in Valencia, a new campus in Spain, is hosting the college’s first graduate programs, while Berklee Online serves distance learners worldwide with extension classes and degree-granting programs. The Berklee City Music Network provides after-school programming for underserved teens in 48 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. With a student body representing over 100 countries and alumni and faculty that have won more than 300 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, Berklee is the world’s premier learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow.

About Berklee’s Office of Community Affairs and Campus Engagement:

Berklee’s Office of Community Affairs and Campus Engagement (CACE) cultivates and manages institutional relationships, partnerships, and programs that advance the college, mobilize musicians as leaders, and contribute to the cultural, educational, and artistic development of the Boston area and our society.

About the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department:

The Boston Parks and Recreation Department offers residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy free performances, workshops, and visual arts programs in parks throughout the city year-round. Tens of thousands of children and families enjoy Parks programming each year. Our special events and free programs bring free, safe quality activities to these spaces and help build community.