UVA Jazz Ensemble Spring 2025 Concert
On Saturday, April 12th, at 8:00 PM in Old Cabell Auditorium, the UVA Jazz Ensemble directed by Mike Rosensky will present their Spring 2025 concert.
The UVA Jazz Ensemble will feature works from the songbooks of the Count Basie Band, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. John D’earth, who recently retired as Director of Jazz to pursue performing and composing full-time, will join the band as a guest artist for part of this concert, soloing on his big band arrangement of his composition Beyond Belief, among other tunes.
"It has been an honor and a joy to work with the exceptional student musicians in the band this semester," said Music Department faculty member Mike Rosensky, who has been leading the band since January. "This is a very strong Jazz Ensemble with a number of excellent soloists. John “coached ‘em up” over the years as only he can, and I have been fortunate to be able to jump in and gently steer the ship this spring.”
The UVA Jazz Ensemble has become one of the more creative college big bands in the country. The group’s performances feature classic repertoire from across the spectrum of jazz history, jazz arrangements of music from diverse genres, and original compositions and arrangements by the students and the director.
The ensemble comprises undergraduates, graduate students, and community members. They offer two concerts per academic year and present numerous guest artists from our area, and from the national and international jazz scene.
This is the 6th Annual Jazz 4 Justice concert at UVA.
About Jazz4Justice
For over 20 years, Jazz4Justice concerts have benefited local communities while providing high quality musical entertainment at concert halls, parks, and independent venues across the Commonwealth of Virginia and District of Columbia. To date, over 70 Jazz4Justice concerts and festivals have raised over $700,000 for much needed pro bono legal services, Jazz programs, and music scholarships. Jazz4Justice is a 501(c)3 public charity and has received awards from the American Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar. Jazz4Justice is financially assisted by a generous grant from the Virginia Law Foundation. The Virginia Law Foundation promotes through philanthropy the rule of law, access to justice and law-related education. Jazz4Justice is funded in part by ArtsFairfax. www.jazz4justice.com.
Giving two major concerts a year in Old Cabell Hall and various extra performances, the Jazz Ensemble is an extended big band that includes flutes, vocalists, and, sometimes, other instruments not normally associated with big band music.
The Jazz Ensemble encourages its members to immerse themselves in the art form called jazz, to understand its history, and to listen, repeatedly, to the music. Jazz, and the blues from which it sprang, are both gifts from Black America to the rest of the world. Jazz gives music back to the musicians by teaching two things: 1. master musical language on your instrument, and 2. Tell your own story; “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken,” as Oscar Wilde exhorted. The UVA Jazz Ensemble avidly pursues these twin goals of expertise and creative expression.
The UVA Jazz Program focuses on developing the individual voices of our jazz students. It follows the Duke Ellington model of how to build a jazz orchestra: allow and encourage the distinct musical personalities of the musicians to create the overall sound and direction of the music.
To find out more about Jazz events at UVA, visit https://music.virginia.edu/jazz-events.
Tickets are $10 General Admission / $9 UVA Faculty & Staff / $5 students / Free for UVA Students who reserve in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the UVA Arts Box Office, on-line at https://artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/, by phone (434) 924-3376 or in person at the Arts Box Office or at the door on the night of the concert. The UVA Arts Box Office is located on the John and Betsy Casteen Arts Grounds, inside the lobby of the UVA Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road. For directions, please visit UVA Visitors Map or view directions via Google Maps.
OOld Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). At UVA, parking is available in the C1 lot off McCormick Rd, and the Central Grounds Parking Garage on Emmet St. is walking distance to the hall. Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall.
All events are subject to change.
For more information, please call 434.924.3052 or email music@virginia.edu.