BSU’s annual JazzFest set for Saturday

Bemidji State University’s annual JazzFest Invitational, featuring guest performer Trent Austin, is set for Feb. 9.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Thompson Recital Hall in Bemidji State’s Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. JazzFest tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for children. BSU students are admitted free with a valid ID.

JazzFest will feature the BSU Jazz Band and bands from around the region, including high school bands from Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, Thief River Falls and Grand Forks Central High School.

Trent Austin
This year’s JazzFest guest performer, Trent Austin, is a celebrated trumpet artist, entrepreneur, clinician and educator. His road to fame began in high school, where he performed at the opening of the EuroDisney Theme Park in Paris and was a featured performer at the 1992 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He was first trumpet at the Maine All-State Music Festival and later attended the University of New Hampshire on a full scholarship as a trumpet player. He also was named to the prestigious Berklee Grammy® High School Jazz Band in 1993, was designated lead trumpet of the 1995 Disney All-American Show Band, and was a featured soloist at the 1996 Harmony Ridge Brass Festival and at the 1997 Lake Placid Institute of the Arts Seminar.

He has performed with a lengthy list of music legends, including Tony Bennett and Natalie Cole, and spent eleven years as a featured trumpet soloist with the famed Artie Shaw Orchestra. He has recorded four albums, the most recent being “Trumpet 102” in 2012.

Austin was a trumpet professor at the University of Southern Maine for nine years and regularly provides clinics and Master Classes nationwide at various trumpet and brass conferences, including at the International Trumpet Guild Conference. Austin also maintains an active teaching studio in Salem, Mass., and worldwide via Skype, providing trumpet and jazz improvisation lessons.

For more information about this year’s JazzFest Invitational, contact Bemidji State University’s Department of Music, (218) 755-2915.

MINNESOTA
Bemidji |56601| Cathy Frenzel, sophomore, trumpet, music
Brainerd | 56401 | Diane Fellman, freshman, undeclared
Browerville |56438| Larry Krog, sophomore, guitar, psychology
Cass Lake |56633| Allison Conner, sophomore, baritone saxophone, marketing communication
Cottage Grove | 55016 | Lavonte Hardie, freshman, criminal justice
Le Sueur |56058| Luke Barnard, freshman, bass, music
Maple Grove |55312| Josh May, freshman, trumpet, music
Roseau |56751| Frank Olson, senior, alto I saxophone, clinical psychology
Nevis | 56467 | Brian Bass, freshman, undeclared
Nevis |56467| Gabby Karum, junior, alto II saxophone, music
Pipestone |56164| Lexi Kruse, senior, trumpet, music
Slayton | 56172 | Molly Bass, freshman, music education
Staples | 56479 | Lynnea Iverson, freshman, tenor II saxophone, music education
Victoria |55386| Jesica Lindquist, sophomore, trombone, music

MONTANA
Columbia Falls |59912| Uriah Keller, sophomore, trumpet, music

CALIFORNIA
Moreno Valley |92555| Jabari Prevost, junior, tenor I saxophone, music

LINKS
BSU Jazz Band
Trent Austin