Dear Bismarck Mandan Community,

We are excited to invite you to the 51st Annual University of Mary Jazz Festival Concert, hosted by the Music Department. The event is scheduled for Saturday, January 27th at 7:30 pm at the Belle Mehus Auditorium, a historic venue located in downtown Bismarck. Tickets are $15 available online at www.umary.edu/jazz, at Eckroth Music with cash or check, and at the door. Seating is general admission and on a first-come, first-served basis.

The concert will feature performances by UMary's Jazz Combo and Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Brian Lydeen, as well as Vocal Jazz, directed by Dr. Tom Porter. In addition, we are thrilled to have national guest artists join us. This year's lineup includes Aimee Nolte, a fantastic singer, jazz pianist, and YouTube sensation from Los Angeles, along with Adam Meckler, trumpet player and composer, who currently serves as the Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan Technological University. Dr. Scott Agster, a trombone artist based in Minneapolis, who has collaborated on several projects with Adam Meckler over the years, will also be performing.

We are equally excited to have saxophonist Greg Yasinitsky, a prolific composer and arranger who recently retired from his position at Washington State University, join us from the Pacific Northwest. Vocalist Kirk Marcy, a renowned professor and in-demand clinician who once toured with the Four Freshmen, will also adjudicate groups during the two-day festival. Kirk teaches at Edmonds College in Washington State. Lastly, we are honored to have Bob Peske, a local legend and guitarist, who taught in the Bismarck Public Schools for 30 years. He has been an adjunct instructor at UMary and was featured with the jazz ensemble at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in the 1990s.

We hope to see you there!

Best regards,

Brian Lydeen