October 1, 2008

Jazz Band “A,” California State University, Fresno’s premier student jazz performance ensemble, begins its 2008-09 season at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, as the opener for the fifth annual Jazz Composers Orchestra concert.

Jazz Band “A,” under new director Dr. Alan Durst, will play works by Count Basie, Thad Jones, Shelly Berg and Louis "Louie" Belson. The traditional work will be a counterpoint to the Jazz Composers Orchestra, comprising the area’s top jazz artists playing original and inventive arrangements.

Tickets are $8 general admission and $5 for Fresno State faculty, staff, students and senior citizens.

Durst, a lecturer, saxophone professor and coordinator of jazz performance, said, “We’re looking forward to a very big year. I have the distinct privilege of working with 22 of Fresno State’s finest young musicians, and it is my role to challenge them.”

One of the biggest challenges comes in the spring semester when Jazz Band “A” competes in the Lionel Hampton International Student Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho.

“It will be our first time participating in this very prestigious festival, and I am so excited to see our students blossom as they prepare for this event,” said Durst, a lecturer, saxophone professor and coordinator of jazz performance. He plans three other road performances by the ensemble during the February trip to the festival.

There will be three other campus concerts – two with Jazz Band "B” – during the fall semester:

• Oct. 30, “Jazz-O-Ween,” a concert with Jazz Band “B” that’s suitably spooky for Halloween eve.

• Nov. 24, “Concert Band Spectacular,” also showcasing the Bulldog Marching Band and Fresno State Wind Orchestra.

• Dec. 5, Holiday Concert with Jazz Band “B.”

Many of Jazz Band “A’s” members started in Jazz Band “B,” which is an incubator for young talent directed by Craig VonBerg, also a Department of Music lecturer.

All performances are open to the public.