ROSEVILLE, MIN. (Top40 Charts/ Roseville Visitors Association) - Put on the party hats, cue the confetti and strike up the band: Minnesota's 150th birthday party kicks off with a jazz flourish on January 12 with the Roseville Winter Jazz Blast, the first of hundreds of Sesquicentennial events.
The event will mark the first-ever public performance of the official Minnesota state birthday song, Shines For All To See, commissioned by the Roseville Winter Jazz Blast and composed by Dean Sorenson, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota. Master of ceremonies for the evening will be T. Mychael Rambo.
The first annual Roseville Winter Jazz Blast will also feature more than 400 student musicians participating in a middle- and high-school jazz ensemble festival. The day includes clinics by professional jazz musicians and educators, as well as master classes for saxophones, trombones, trumpets and rhythm.
The all-day event will culminate in the 7:30 p.m. premiere of the new birthday song and performances by the Roseville High School Jazz Ensemble and JazzMN Big Band with vocalist Judi Donaghy. The top three soloists from the daytime festival will be selected to play with JazzMN that evening.
WHAT: The first annual Roseville Winter Jazz Blast
WHEN: Saturday, January 12, 2008: Middle- and high school band festival, 8:25 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; World premiere of the official Sesquicentennial birthday song and performances by the Roseville High School Jazz Ensemble (directed by Pat Moriarty) and JazzMN Big Band (directed by Doug Snapp) with vocalist Judi Donaghy, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Maranatha Hall on the campus of Northwestern College, 3003 Snelling Ave., N., Roseville, MN 55113.
TICKETS: The school band festival is free and open to the public. Admission to the evening performance is $17 for the general public, $14 for adults accompanying participating students and $7 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available at the Northwestern College box office, by calling 651-631-5151 or 866-821-5151 or at https://www.nwc.edu.
Sixteen jazz ensembles will be participating, including groups from the following schools:
- Edgewood Middle School, Mounds View
- Kennedy High School, Bloomington
- Hortonville High School, Hortonville, WI
- Highview Middle School, New Brighton
- Farmington High School, Farmington
- Chippewa Middle School, Shoreview
- Mounds View High School, St. Paul
- Murray Junior High School, St. Paul
- St. Francis High School, St. Francis
- Roseville High School, Roseville
- Meadow Creek Christian School, Andover
- Blaine High School, Blaine
Sponsors for the 2008 Roseville Winter Jazz Blast include McNally Smith College of Music, Northwestern College, Radisson, Ecolab, Community Resource Bank, Finale, Rosedale Center, Fanfare Attractions, KBEM/Jazz 88 and Explore Minnesota.
For more information, contact the Roseville Visitors Association at 651-633-3002 or https://www.visitroseville.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Bellmont Partners Public Relations, (952) 233-0428, [email protected]
