Find Free Jazz Music in Roseville Today

If you have some free time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. today (Saturday) and you like jazz music, I highly recommend you head over to Maranatha Hall on the campus of Northwestern College. There you will find 18 middle and high school jazz bands from around the Twin Cities area performing in the fifth annual Roseville Winter Jazz Blast Festival.

Hosted by the Roseville Visitors Association, the festival is a non-competitive event designed to provide students and band directors with a positive musical and educational experience. Group sizes vary from 17 to 37 students.

Everyone has a warm up and then 20 minutes to perform three pieces of their choice before two adjudicators. Once a group has completed its on stage performance they go off for a private clinic lead by one of the adjudicators who are all jazz educators in the region and performance artists themselves. 

All of the school groups receive a recording of their onstage session and written notes from their adjudicator on their performance along with recorded notes from their private clinic.

The students all have a great time playing during the day and really appreciate seeing familiar faces in the crowd or having students from the other schools
cheering them on. Around 1 p.m. there are master classes for trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm.  

Check out our YouTube Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggTamx4rwMI

Though the festival is not competitive, the adjudicators get together at the end of the days performances to pick the top band of the day, that is invited to come back
for the ticketed evening event and perform before the audience. They also choose three student soloists from the day and invite them to come onstage during the concert to play a solo piece with the JazzMN Orchestra.

It never ceases to amaze me how cool these kids are hopping up on stage with their instruments to play with an award winning orchestra before a full house. They appear to have no fear, sound great and receive a huge round of applause when they finish.

But I digress, the day long festival is free and the public is very much welcomed. If you pop in around noon you can also take advantage of a great buffet
luncheon in the brand new Billy Graham Center for only $10.00.  

Groups participating this year are from Blaine, Central, Hill Murray, Cretin-Derham Hall, Irondale, Farmington, St. Francis, Northfield, Forest Lake and Minnetonka High Schools.  Middle schools will be coming from Chaska Middle School East, Highview, Edgewood, Wayzata and Chippewa Middle Schools.

For more information you can go online to www.visitroseville.com and click on
the Roseville Winter Jazz Blast logo.

I hope to see you there!