So, do you like jazz? There are currently six jazz groups at UMBC, the Jazz Ensemble, four small groups, and the Jazz Guitar Ensemble. The audition is the same for all groups. Non-traditional instruments are welcome. Make music! Make friends! Receive course credit!

Also, we host our own jazz festival every spring. Recent guests include saxophonist Charlie Young, latin jazz drummer Vince Cherico, drummer Allison Miller, bassist Ben Allison, trumpeter Steven Bernstein, bassist Ben Street, pianist Larry Willis, tubist/saxophonist Howard Johnson, and saxophonist George Garzone. In addition to hosting our own festival, our students perform regularly off campus and at other area festivals.

For more information about the orchestra, please visit this page.

The album can streamed on Spotify.

The performance is a part of the Creative Alliance's The BIG Show, an event encompassing multiple artistic disciplines. More information can be found on the Creative Alliance's website.

Congrats to Kathryn!!

Program note for Just Ordinary (2019) by Kathryn Blake:

In the midst of a stressful period, a listen to the world around me helped create this piece. I based Just Ordinary on the sounds I heard and catalogued on a typical day – doors opening and closing, cars and busses driving by, chatter, insects, wind, and birdsong – and reinvented them into a percussive world for a solo performer. The piece mixes these sounds which were taken from morning to night, and layered them on top of one another, leaving some sections quiet and gentle, while others are lively and full of color. I gave the performer the freedom to select the instruments based on loose descriptions of a desired sound (e.g., wood, resonant and non-resonant metals), thus giving them the freedom to design their personal interpretation of the world around them. This piece provides an opportunity to reflect on the environment in which we live, to notice how we view the world through different lenses, and to appreciate the things in life that we think are Just Ordinary.