The University of Idaho Argonaut

Students of jazz music from around the United States and Canada will have an opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival on the University of Idaho campus next week.
The four-day festival begins Wednesday and includes 21 festival sites on the UI campus and around Moscow.

The festival attracts approximately 70 professional guest performers, conducts artist workshops and allows for middle school, high school and college-aged students to interact with professional musicians. Each night, a major jazz concert is also held.
“Last year, 341 schools participated in the festival,” said Margan Wilson, marketing and volunteer program coordinator fort the festival.

Wilson said that some schools are traveling from as far as Canada and Texas, while many schools are from the Idaho and Washington regions.
Each school can bring multiple combos, large ensembles and soloist student performances that are critiqued by nationally renowned adjudicators. Student performances will be held at seven of the festival sites, including the Administration Building Auditorium.

Jazz artists participating in the festival also go out to schools in the North Idaho and eastern Washington regions to conduct workshops and offer educational performances to the students.
“Artists come to elementary schools as a way to reach out to kids that may never visit the festival,” said program adviser Dwina Howey.

A new element of this year’s festival has been the involvement of the provost’s office and New Student Services, Howey said. A new effort has been put in to offer campus tours and have advertisement opportunities for colleges of UI to reach new prospective students during the festival, she said.

“The university has really tried to band together by using university programs to provide a positive opportunity to see the university and try to recruit new students,” Howey said.
Offering another intricate aspect of the festival is the International Jazz Collections. The collections will offer lectures, films and displays in conjunction with the festival. This year’s exhibit and film and lecture series will focus on jazz in Europe. The annual Prichard Gallery exhibit displays sheet music covers.

“This is the fourth-largest jazz collection in the world,” Howey said.
A small portion of the archives from thecollection travels, but the majority of the material is stored at the university, Wilson said.
“The archives are a very important link to the history of jazz,” Wilson said. “All sorts of vocalists, instrumentalists, reporters and journalists are represented.”

Artifacts and archives will be displayed in the Kibbie Dome and at the UI Library during the festival. The film and lecture sessions will be held in the Borah Theater in the SUB.
Student volunteers are also a critical aspect of the festival. Approximately 500 volunteers are needed for the festival to take place, Wilson said.  Volunteers drive artists, work the 21 festival sites, work with student performers, act as greeters, check in directors and act as escorts for student groups.

“This is my first time volunteering,” said Travis Abram, a senior psychology major. “I’ve been going to this school for four years and I’ve never been to a Jazz Fest. It’s something I wanted to do before I graduated. I just thought it was for a good cause.”
Check both editions of The Argonaut next week for special jazz festival coverage.