The Department of Music at SEMO hosted the 24th Annual Clark Terry/Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival on Feb. 2-3, 2024.

During the day, the festival is an opportunity for high school students to learn and grow as musicians.

The SEMO Jazz Ensembles performed a concert on the evening of the festival.

The audience was made up of high school students, community members, and SEMO students with an appreciation for jazz music and the arts.

Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Trombone, Dr. Felipe Brito, organized the event. Brito spoke highly of the SEMO Jazz bands and jazz festival.

“The goal is to embrace the community and bring these students together,” Brito said.

Senior music education major Hunter Landstorm was an audience member at the event. Landstrom believes that celebrating jazz is important because of its cultural and historical significance.

“Jazz culture is important and it’s an entirely different style of music. It’s a tradition that has lasted hundreds of years, so it is important that we still perform these songs and enjoy this style of music,” Landstrom said.

Freshman music education major and trombone player in the jazz band Rebecca Richardson discussed the importance of the annual jazz festival at SEMO.

“It gives individuals the opportunity to grow and expand their range of music. The goal is for students to learn and perform at their best,” Richardson said.

The evening concert featured Andre Hayward, jazz trombonist, as the guest artist. Hayward currently serves as professor of trombone at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.