Hope College jazz faculty visiting artist Stafford Hunter will host “Christmas Jazz and Cocoa,” his third concert of the school year, on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room of the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center.

Hunter promises to provide the music if the members of the audience bring their own cocoa.  The concert will feature favorite Christmas songs performed with a bit of jazz and rhythms in a relaxed atmosphere.

The public is invited.  Admission to the concert is free.  For those who wish to have the event’s titular beverage but don’t bring it with them, hot cocoa is available for purchase at the Kletz Market (open for service until 8 p.m.) near the Great Room.

Hunter is a visiting artist in the jazz area at Hope. The multi-Grammy-nominated trombonist and seashells player is a Philadelphia native with a bachelor’s degree from the New School (New York City) and a master’s degree in music from the University of Denver. Has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Frank Foster, Lester Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Dionne Warwick, Donald Byrd Dance Troupe, Lenny Kravitz, Oliver Lake, Orrin Evans’ Captain Black big band, and Steve Turre & Sanctified Shells, and for the past 21 years has been a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He has five CDs as a leader to date.

Audience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar

Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, Hope is currently requiring that masks be worn by all individuals while indoors on campus unless in their living space or alone in their work space.

The Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center is located on the former 11th Street between College and Columbia Avenues.