https://www.ohio.edu/sites/ohio.edu.news/files/2022-04/2022-04-03_Stuarts_AthensCommJazz_1__djk_0292_web.jpg
The Athens Jazz Ensemble, led by Matthew James, performed at the Stewart Opera House on Sunday, April 3.
After kicking off a virtual event last year, the Athens Jazz Festival is back in person for the 2022 event.
Offering a cross between entertainment and education, the festival was a six-day event with live music performances from Ohio University students, local high school students, and professional musicians. All events were free and open to the public.
Playing for the live audience is great,” said Avery Baumgarner, a first-year graduate student at the music school. “When you play for people, all of a sudden, the band plays so hard, we’re more together, we play more music with more energy. It’s a really interesting phenomenon.”
Bumgarner, the saxophonist, said the jazz festival was "up its alley" and said one of the best parts about it was the diversity of events hosted, from small group performances to big band performances, and everything in between.
Stephen Hefner, one of 13 professional musicians invited to participate, has returned to Athens after a six-year absence to attend the festival.
"I'm excited," Hefner said before the event. “What I am looking forward to coming back to Athens is working with some of the students who are going to come to this festival. And just sharing a lot of my experiences and my perception of how they can play music, and helping them do it better.”
Hefner said his goal in working with music students is to "give them the kind of education I wished for when I was young."
Hefner has performed internationally and toured with many different groups and international musicians. He is currently working as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas.
“The Athens Jazz Festival… has always been very much about education and student enrollment,” he said. "I think it's really cool to be a part of those experiences for young people, and I think the Athens Jazz Festival provides that."
Hefner's first introduction to music education was the time he helped his niece improve her saxophone playing, as she was an admirer of the main saxophone player in high school.
“It was really great to help this person achieve some of their goals,” he said. “It was really cool to interact [with my family] This way, and I think that always colors my perceptions of teaching as, "How can I help you get where you want to go?"
The festival kicked off March 29 when the OHIO Chamber Jazz Party honored music photographer Chuck Stewart, BFA '49.
Stewart, who passed away in 2017, was an inspiring and highly respected graduate of OHIO with a BA in Photography as it was rare for black students to enroll in fine art programs and during a time when most white students were enrolled in OHIO. Stewart's portrayal has appeared on more than 2,000 album covers.
Matt James, director of the Jazz Studies Program at Ohio University, began expanding the jazz festival a few years ago to bring more music into the community, and it has paid off. This year, James said there were more high schools that participated this year than ever before.
James said he hopes to expand the festival further in the future and invite additional nationally known musicians. For now, though, James is grateful that he did great music with so many musicians from the festival.
“I think there would be a lot of professional payoff for students to understand, if they wanted to take this music to the next level, what would that be involved,” James said.
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