The Marshall University Jazz Ensemble will be performing in Europe.
The group will perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Jazz a Juan Festival in France. They will leave on Saturday and return July 13.
"It's a great opportunity to experience foreign culture," said Ed Bingham, director of the ensemble. "Most of them have not been overseas before. Part of Marshall's purpose is to develop the Internationalism of the students."
The faculty and staff of the College of Fine Arts and the Joan C. Edwards jazz endowment helped pay for part of the trip. The students also fundraised to make up the difference.
While in Europe, the group will also be sightseeing and viewing performances by other musicians.
"It's part of the education process," Bingham said. "It will expose them to other people and they will be able to hear other musical groups. They will be able to compare and contrast and hopefully get some new ideas about things."
Austin Seybert, junior music education major from Bridgeport, W.Va., said he is looking forward to hearing different performers.
"You get to hear some masters that are so much better than you are, and it sets the standard for where you should be as a jazz musician," he said. "At Marshall, there's only so much you can listen to locally. Over there, you hear the cream of the crop and the who's who of each instrument."
Jason Mitchell, junior jazz studies major from Forest Hill, W.Va., said he thinks the trip will be beneficial because the group will be gaining the experience of performing in a new place.
"When it comes down to it, people who are hiring musicians look for experience, and the more experience I have in various venues, the more marketable I am," he said.
Not only does Mitchell think it will benefit him personally, but he also hopes the trip will be beneficial to the university.
"It's great for the jazz studies program," he said. "It will put Marshall University's name out there on a worldwide scale. Internationally, it will let people see aspects of Marshall they didn't know existed."
Mitchell also said he thinks the group will perform well at the festivals. They have been practicing all year for this trip, concluding with three-hour practice sessions last week at the Jazz-MU-Tazz Festival.
"We may not be able to compare to professional ensembles, but on the college level, we're going to make a showing," he said.
Bingham said one thing that will help the band is the fact the group stayed mostly the same.
"A lot of times, we change personality from semester to semester," he said. "We minimized the personality change this time."
Students attending the trip are Jimmy Lykens from Eunice, W.Va.; Sean Coughlin, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Mitchell; Chris Clark, Charleston, W.Va.; David Hamilton, Culloden, W.Va.; Luke Miller, Meadow Bridge, W.Va.; Daniel Ellis, San Angelo, Texas; Katie Ferber, Bridgeport, W.Va.; Austin Seybert, Bridgeport; John Galloway, Kenova, W.Va.; Isaac Winland, Sistersville, W.Va.; Angela Crum, Union, W.Va.; Dylan Elder, Barboursville, W.Va.; Briana Blankenship, Grantsville, W.Va.; Johnathan Wright, Houston, Texas; Rodney Elkins, Salt Rock, W.Va.; Nicole McComas, Hamlin, W.Va.; Wes Hager, Teays Valley, W.Va.; and Esin Gunduz, Istanbul, Turkey
Shea Anderson can be contacted at anderson84@marshall.edu
Be the first to comment on this article!