The Hope College jazz studies area will present three concerts between April 6 and 9.

Multiple jazz combos will perform on Monday, April 6, in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.  Vocal jazz students will perform on Tuesday, April 7, also in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.  The Jazz Arts Collective will perform on Thursday, April 9, in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.  Each concert will take place at 7:30 p.m.

The public is invited to all three events. Admission is free.

The eight jazz combos at Hope College afford students the opportunity to perform in the classic small-group-combo setting.  The ensembles vary in size and instrumentation, and place a creative focus on improvisation and group communication.  All of the ensembles perform works from the classic jazz repertoire.   The more advanced jazz chamber ensembles also perform repertoire from the contemporary jazz world.  The ensembles also place an emphasis on original student and faculty compositions.  All of the ensembles are coached by members of the Hope College jazz faculty.

The students in the vocal jazz group are directed by Edye Hyde.  Hyde, an instructor of vocal jazz at Hope, has been teaching and performing jazz, blues and pop music for more than 20 years in West Michigan, Los Angeles and Asia.

Jazz Arts Collective is the premier large jazz ensemble at Hope College.  The collective places a creative focus on ensemble communication and improvisation.  Comprised of a rhythm section and flexible wind/string instrumentation, this select group performs compositions and arrangements from across the full spectrum of music.  The collective’s repertoire ranges from the great historical jazz composers such as Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, to works by modern jazz masters like Vince Mendoza, Jim McNeely and John Hollenbeck. The Jazz Arts Collective frequently performs commissions, works by emerging young composers, and originals by Hope College faculty and students. The ensemble also collectively reinterprets and re-imagines the music from the 20th century classical repertoire.

Nykerk Hall of Music is located in the central Hope campus at the former 127 E. 12th Street between College and Columbia avenues.