The California Preservation of Jazz Festival will be held at California State University, Fresno on Sunday, Feb. 29 at 3 p.m. featuring top college student musicians from throughout the state and three outstanding jazz ensembles.

The festival will be held in the Concert Hall of the Music Building (2380 E. Keats Ave.).

In addition to the Fresno State Jazz Band, the event will feature the CSU All-State Jazz Ensemble and the All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble.

The ensembles were selected by audition and are filled with the most outstanding collegiate jazz musicians from the CSU system said Dr. Michael Caldwell, Fresno State’s director of Jazz Ensembles who is hosting the concert.

in addition to Fresno State, other CSUs represented will include Fullerton, Hayward, Bakersfield, Northridge, Humboldt State, San Diego State and Sacramento State.

The All-State Vocal Ensemble will be directed by Kerry Marsh from Sacramento State. Marsh also created all of the musical arrangements for the ensemble.

The instrumental group will be led by several CSU jazz faculty members directing their own compositions including Dan Aldag of Humboldt, Doug Davis of Bakersfield, Dave Eshelman of Hayward, Neil Finn of Long Beach, Rick Helzer of San Diego State, Chuck Tumlinson of Fullerton and Jeff Benedict of the Los Angeles campus.

Four students from Fresno State will perform with the All-State Jazz Ensemble including Josh McDonald on trumpet, Mark Stotzer on trombone, Daniel Kaneko on bass trombone and Wes Maston on drums.

An improvisation masterclass will be presented by Rick Helzer of San Diego State on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2:45 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The masterclass is free and open to the public.

Caldwell said there will also be a tribute to John Prince, former director at CSU Long Beach, who recently passed away.

Tickets for the event are $8 for general admission and $6 for students and senior citizens. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays at the Fresno State Music Department.

For additional information, call (559) 278-2654.