On Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m., the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Jazz Ensemble will be performing with Grammy award winners, New York Voices. This event will take place in Angelle Auditorium and will be completely free to all UL Lafayette students and faculty.
The students who are participating in the concert are perfecting their music now to be fully ready to play alongside the professionals at the beginning of next semester.
The setlist will consist of songs by artists like Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bill Withers, The Beatles, Queen and more.
The ensemble will be meeting the Monday and Tuesday, before classes start, to have a kind of “jazz camp.” They will be practicing and learning as much as they can before the event on Wednesday.
Jacob Leblanc, a junior music education major, notes that “seeing the students all put in effort and meet a level of performing that they’re going to be proud of is really inspiring.”
Following the concert, being played on UL Lafayette campus, the ensemble will travel with New York Voices to New Orleans to kick off the Louisiana Music Educators Association Conference. The performance in New Orleans will be played for over 1,200 students and educators.
Many of the students in the ensemble are having to pick up completely new instruments in order to play various songs in the concert.
One student who is having to learn a new instrument for the event is senior instrumental music education major, Ricky Abshire. He says that he is “… excited to get to work with Grammy award winners, see what they have to say and learn what [he] can from their kind of style.”
Lawrence Spears, a senior music performance major who is also playing in the event, says that he is excited to “… catch a glimpse of a professional field [he] wants to work in.”
Another upcoming event hosted by the UL Lafayette school of music is the Christmas concert. This concert will be happening on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Angelle auditorium. There will be three choirs performing along with the UL Lafayette wind ensemble.
Benjamin Day, a senior instrumental music education major, says that “it’s really important for any people of the community to come watch because it really shows support for not only the effort that’s put in, but also for the arts, which has gone down in recent past.”
The entirety of the UL Lafayette community is encouraged to attend both events to support their Ragin’ Cajuns in celebrating the Holidays and taking pride in the opportunity to perform with professionals like New York Voices.