Contact: Jill McMillan, MSU School of Music, (517) 353-9958, jill@msu.edu; or Kristin Anderson, University Relations, (517) 353-8819, ander284@msu.edu
1/13/2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. � Michigan State University jazz professors will perform their �Jazz: Spirituals, Prayer & Protest Concerts� at 3 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, in the Pasant Theater of the Wharton Center.
Admission is free, but advance tickets are required. General admission tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Wharton Center Box Office. Tickets will not be reserved by phone.
Donations will benefit the MSU Jazz Studies and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. endowed scholarships.
The performance will highlight jazz works from a variety of composers, including Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Herbie Hancock and Nina Simone.
The third annual event features Rodney Whitaker, director of jazz at MSU and artistic director of Professors of Jazz at MSU (PJMSU), as well as the following PJMSU members: Derrick Gardner, assistant professor of trumpet and jazz studies; Diego Rivera, instructor of saxophone and jazz studies; and Sunny Wilkinson, instructor of voice and jazz studies. The MSU student ensemble �Jazz Band I� will also perform.
Jualynne E. Dodson, professor in the Religious Studies and African American and African Studies departments, will present an introduction and facilitate a discussion of lyrics and histories between selections.
The concert is co-sponsored by the MSU School of Music, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration Committee and the Committee Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
For more information visit www.msu.edu/unit/aacm/MLK