STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University\u2019s annual Jazz Festival, featuring more than 500 middle and high school musicians representing 30 bands from across the state, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 24-25, in the Clyde H. Wells Fine Arts Center in Stephenville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friday\u2019s performances and instruction conclude with a 7:30 p.m. concert by Tarleton State\u2019s Jazz II and III ensembles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival winds up at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Tarleton State\u2019s Jazz I ensemble, directed by Dr. William Ford, backing guest performer Aubrey Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selections include \u201cWhere or When,\u201d \u201cCheek to Cheek,\u201d \u201cEasy to Love,\u201d \u201cOn a Clear Day (You Can See Forever),\u201d \u201cFools Rush In,\u201d \u201cI Can\u2019t Give You Anything but Love,\u201d and \u201cAlmost Like Being in Love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival highlights a busy week of student performances, including the Spring Choir Concert featuring Tarleton State\u2019s choral groups directed by Dr. Troy Robertson and Dr. Debbie Seitter, set for Tuesday, April 21; the Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Charles, in concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 27; and the Symphonic Band, performing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, directed by Dr. Gary Westbrook. The university\u2019s theatrical improv group takes to the stage for a free performance at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson, a New York-based vocalist, composer and educator, has received composition and touring grants from Chamber Music America and South Arts and was awarded fellowships in music composition by the UCross Foundation and MacDowell. Also an established arranger, her vocal jazz ensemble arrangements have been published by Anchor Music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her debut album, \u201cUnraveled,\u201d featuring her original music and arrangements, was released in 2020, followed by \u201cPlay Favorites,\u201d her duo album with pianist Randy Ingram in 2022, and a third studio album, \u201cThe Lively Air\u201d, released earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the more than 50 albums she has appeared on are Bobby McFerrin\u2019s Grammy-nominated release, \u201cVOCAbuLaries,\u201d Arturo O\u2019Farrill’s Grammy Award-winning album \u201cFour Questions,\u201d and Lyle Mays\u2019 Grammy Award-winning \u201cEberhard,\u201d on which she also served as executive producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She holds faculty positions at The New School, Montclair State University and Queens College, and previously held positions at New England Conservatory, her alma mater, and Berklee College of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tickets for each of the musical shows are $10 and are available at tarleton.evenue.net\/<\/a>. All seating is general admission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University\u2019s annual Jazz Festival, featuring more than 500 middle and high school musicians representing 30 bands from across the state, is scheduled for Friday and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":52919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":422,"footnotes":""},"categories":[422,424],"tags":[453],"class_list":["post-55083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morestories","category-arts-events","tag-performing-fine-arts"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2025\/03\/4670-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_morestories<\/a>","Arts & Events<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_morestories<\/span>","Arts & Events<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Performing & Fine Arts<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Performing & Fine Arts<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 17 hours ago","modified":"Updated 18 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 21, 2026","modified":"Updated on April 21, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 21, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on April 21, 2026 8:59 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55083"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55084,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55083\/revisions\/55084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}