The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will wrap up this season’s Collegiate Series with a concert performance by the Marshall University Jazz Ensemble “12.0”, under the direction of Dr. Ed Bingham, on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. The performance will take place in the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The Collegiate Series is free and the public is invited to attend.
“12.0” is a select group of Marshall’s jazz students. The concert will feature a variety of styles from the classic jazz bands of Duke Ellington and Stan Kenton to the contemporary sounds of Bob Mintzer, Mike Tomaro and Thelonious Monk.
The concert at the Cultural Center kicks off a series of performances by “12.0” which includes an appearance at Pullman Square in Huntington for Marshall University’s Jazz-MU-Tazz Festival on Saturday, April 26. The event is held in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and the International Association of Jazz Educators to observe National Jazz Appreciation Month. The group also will play at the Jazz a Juan Festival in Nice, France and culminate their tour with a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland this July. The Montreux festival is one of the premier jazz festivals in the world.
Bingham is professor of saxophone and director of jazz studies at Marshall University. He also directs the Marshall University Jazz Ensemble “12.0” and coordinates two jazz festivals each year. Marshall’s winter jazz festival is one of the longest-running collegiate jazz festivals in the country and the Jazz-MU-Tazz Festival features high school and college students with prominent jazz artists and clinicians.
Bingham is a founding member of Marshall’s faculty jazz ensemble Bluetrane. He maintains an active performance schedule in addition to his teaching responsibilities. He is a bassoonist and saxophonist with the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Lexington Philharmonic, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the River Cities Symphony Orchestra and the Ohio Valley Symphony.
For more information about the concert performance by the Marshall University’s Jazz Ensemble “12.0” or the Collegiate Series, contact Jacqueline Proctor, deputy commissioner for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, or call (304) 558-0162 in the evenings.
The Collegiate Series consists of performances and lectures by students and faculty from colleges and universities across the state. First Lady Gayle Manchin hosts the program.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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