2018 Winter Jazz Festival
Saturday, December 8, 2018

featuring Wayne Bergeron with the Sacramento State Jazz Ensemble

7:00 PM – Closing Concert at the Sacramento State Student Union Ballroom ($15 general admission at the door)

Download the official Application.

Winter Jazz Festival

Wayne Bergeron
The 2018 Sacramento State Winter Jazz Festival, open to Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and Collegiate Jazz Ensembles, Jazz Combos, Vocal Jazz Ensembles, is a non-competitive, educational festival in that no scoring or rankings of bands are made or implied. Instead, our selected clinicians are simply on hand to provide constructive commentary through verbal feedback. Our festival revolves completely around one main concept: it is important that our young musicians are taught how to play jazz while enjoying the learning process through every means available. Download the official Application.

Those means include:
Quality education and encouragement
The creation of opportunities for listening and performance
The presentation of clinics of meaning and merit
Offering a positive, learning-based experience for young jazz ensembles.
Festival Format

Our clinicians understand that many ensembles will be bringing “works in progress” and some may have no repertoire prepared in advance. We are also encouraging directors with little or no jazz training to bring their groups to The Winter Jazz Festival so that the clinicians can display how to start up the ensemble. With no ratings, awards, or trophies involved, the festival is void of pressure, and your ensemble will be working in an intimate performance setting.

Each group registration fee includes a 45-minute session with a selected clinician. Directors and performing participants will receive a complimentary pass to the Festival. General admission is $15.

Instrumental Big Band Clinics:

Your clinician will critique your prepared charts with the option of spending a portion of the clinic teaching your group a jazz composition totally by ear, focusing upon aural training and improvisation. If you have nothing prepared to bring to The Winter Jazz Festival, you can have your clinician introduce your ensemble to a selection of your choice (bring score and parts with you) or spend your entire session on aural training and improvisation. Some directors may choose to have the clinician focus upon the improvisational sections of charts they’re planning to perform during the year.

Jazz Combo Clinics:

You have two options. First, you can have your combo bring prepared jazz selections (jazz standards or jazz compositions from lead sheets/fake books/published combo charts or transcribed by ear from recordings) for your clinician to critique. For schools that wish to form a combo but haven’t yet done so, directors are encouraged to select a combo from their big band personnel and have the clinician show the group how to get started, how to rehearse the ensemble, and what they should strive to accomplish during the year as a group. In both cases, you have the option of having the clinician teach your group a tune aurally, emphasizing ear training, improvisation, and group interaction.

Vocal Jazz Ensemble Clinics:

Your clinician will critique your prepared charts with the option of spending a portion of the clinic teaching your group a jazz composition totally by ear, focusing upon aural training and improvisation. If you have nothing prepared to bring to The Winter Jazz Festival, you can have your clinician introduce your ensemble to a selection of your choice (bring score and parts with you) or spend your entire session on aural training and improvisation.

Additional Festival Information:

The deadline for registration is November 1, 2018. To participate please fill out the downloadable application and return to:
School of Music Winter Jazz Festival
ATTN: Gaw Vang Williams
6000 J Street • MS 6015
Sacramento, CA 95819
Application Fee:
$250.00 per Jazz Ensemble
$200.00 for a second or third Jazz Ensemble
$200.00 per Jazz Combo
Fees will not be refunded after November 1, 2018. There will be a 25% processing charge on all refunds.
Preliminary schedules with warm-up and performance times will be sent to directors by November 10, 2018.
The festival is held in Capistrano Hall and the Student Union, on the campus of Sacramento State.
General Admission to the Festival is $15.00. Parking is FREE and open to the public. For driving directions to Capistrano Hall, click here.
We will fill performance spots on a first come, first serve basis so please get your reservation form in early. For further festival information please email us!