W&L’s University Jazz Ensemble Presents Concert The W&L community is invited to an in-person concert on May 4.

By Erica Turman
May 4, 2021

Washington and Lee University community members are invited to join the University Jazz Ensemble in a concert on May 5 at 6:30 p.m. on the Wilson Hall lawn facing McLaughlin Street. Tickets are not required.

The concert is only open to members of the W&L community. To be admitted, audience members will be required to check in at the designated entrance, have their temperature recorded and provide proof of daily attestation. Masking and social distancing protocols will be enforced.

Under the direction of Terry Vosbein, professor of music, the Jazz Ensemble musicians will share the product of their hard work together. In addition to the 18-piece big band, a jazz quartet featuring Truman Chancy ’22, Robert Masi ’21, Walker Payne ’21 and Will Morris ’23 will open the concert.

The Jazz Ensemble will premiere a new composition by saxophonist Chancy called “Popping Popcorn.” Other featured titles will include two pieces by composer Maria Schneider, who just received two Grammy Awards for her jazz work.

Clarinetist Carissa Petzold ’21 will give a special performance of a 1939 composition, “Camel Hop,” written by Mary Lou Williams for Benny Goodman.

In late 2020, the Jazz Ensemble commissioned composer Christopher Rochester to write a piece entitled “B Delight” for this concert.

“Jazz, funk and disco collide to create a musical canvas,” Rochester said. “I attempted to channel the idea of positivity, happiness and delight. It is an exciting composition that the band has a lot of fun playing.”