JazzPA: JazzPA News

Centre Daily Times

BELLEFONTE, PA
JazzPA has announced its sponsor partnership with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania to present The Columbia Gas 2008 Summer Jazz Celebration on July 26.

As lead sponsor of the event, Columbia Gas will fund all expenses for activities throughout the day in the Garman Opera House Theatre, including the evening concert featuring trombonist Tom Malone. Malone is best known for his work as an original Blues Brother, in the original “Saturday Night Live” band, and in the CBS Orchestra with Paul Shaffer, which is featured on “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Also featured at the Garman concert will be Byron Stripling on trumpet and flugelhorn. Stripling has performed with the New York and Boston Pops, with Wynton Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra and Dizzy Gillespie’s band and is the artistic director of the Columbus (Ohio) Jazz Orchestra. Malone and Stripling will also present a one-hour master class July 26.

Visit www.jazzpa.com for more program information, directions and local accommodations.

For Immediate Release:

JAZZPA ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH
COLUMBIA GAS OF PENNSYLVANIA
TO PRESENT
THE COLUMBIA GAS 2008 SUMMER JAZZ CELEBRATION
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008
IN DOWNTOWN BELLEFONTE, PA
FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS
TOM MALONE (TROMBONE) AND BYRON STRIPLING (TRUMPET)
BELLEFONTE, PA – JazzPA is thrilled to announce its sponsor partnership with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania to present The Columbia Gas 2008 Summer Jazz Celebration on Saturday, July 26th in Downtown Bellefonte, PA. As lead sponsor for the Bellefonte event, Columbia Gas will fund all expenses for activities occurring throughout the day in the historic Garman Opera House Theatre, including the evening concert featuring trombonist Tom Malone, best known for his work in the original Saturday Night Live band, as an original Blues Brother and, currently, each weeknight on The Late Show with David Letterman in the NBC Orchestra with Paul Schaffer. Also featured at the Garman's evening concert is Byron Stripling on trumpet and flugelhorn, known all over the U.S. for his work with pops orchestras, including the New York and Boston Pops, as well as his tenures with Wynton Marsalis's Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra and Dizzy Gillespie's band. Mr. Stripling is now the Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Columbus (OH) Jazz Orchestra. Mr. Malone and Mr. Stripling will also present a one-hour master class Saturday morning at the Garman to share their wealth of knowledge with festival attendees and local high school students performing during the day. The full line-up of the day's performers and performances will be announced in late April.

"Columbia Gas is only as strong as the communities that we serve, and that's why we continue to make investments in the places we call home," said Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania president Terrence J. Murphy. "The Columbia Gas 2008 Summer Jazz Celebration is one more example of our commitment to the region." JazzPA is grateful to have the extensive support and sponsorship of Columbia Gas toward reaching its vision to be a leading jazz and jazz education organization in Central Pennsylvania. For more information relating to Columbia Gas and its 2008 JazzPA sponsorship, contact Matt Pitzarella at 724-416-6313.

Visit JazzPA's website for more information on The Columbia Gas 2008 Summer Jazz Celebration and how you can be a part of it: www.jazzpa.com. JazzPA is celebrating our wonderful new logo, the commitment of the festival's artists and our partnerships with the Borough of Bellefonte and Columbia Gas. Thank you for your support of jazz in Central Pennsylvania - JazzPA! See you in July!!

JazzPA's Board of Directors: John Arrington, Lea Asbell-Swanger, Akemi Benton, Russell Bloom, Catherine Dupuis, Dave Fonash, Arthur Goldstein, Rick Hirsch, Bennett Hoffman, Allyson Hoover, Jeff Krauss, Richard Supina, Leslie Wagner, Paul Wagner, Tommy Wareham, Betsy Dupuis (Of Counsel).

Jazz group moves festival to Bellefonte
Centre Daily Times (www.centredaily.com)
By Jennifer Thomas (jthomas@centredaily.com)
BELLEFONTE PA — There will be music in the air as JazzPA announced plans to move its Summer Jazz Celebration here on July 26.

The daylong event will feature performances by local jazz artists, including school students from Bellefonte, State College, Bald Eagle and Penns Valley. Plans are to incorporate food vendors and events for children into the day.

“It’s a community activity and it’s not just a jazz festival,” Catherine Dupuis, who is artistic director for the organization and currently the board president.

The festival will be capped by a performance by national artists at the Garman Opera House Theatre & Inn, Dupuis said.
She said the decision to move the event, which began as the State College Jazz Festival in 2005, to Bellefonte was part of allowing it to “mature into more than just a single event.”

“We are growing and morphing to be a county-wide organization,” Dupuis said. “We hope to have event in all parts of the county eventually.”

The jazz festival is a chance to showcase Bellefonte and the unique shops, restaurants and attractions — Talleyrand Park, the Garman, Bellefonte Historic Railroad — that are making it a tourism destination, said Chip Aikens, executive director of the Bellefonte Intervalley Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dupuis said the festival also is a chance to bring jazz back to Bellefonte, a community with deep jazz roots that include being the home of the Mills Brothers.

“Isn’t it wonderful to bring jazz home and celebrate the jazz that’s already here? The wonderful artists and musicians,” Dupuis said.

She said that the day will feature performances at the gazebo in Talleyrand Park, on the Diamond and at the Garman. Plans are to have a master class with national artists doing the teaching.

Tom Malone, a trumpet player for The Late Show with David Letterman, and Byron Stripling, a world-class trumpet player, will be among the participants, Dupuis said.

Dupuis said that jazz covers all kinds of styles and sounds, from traditional to blues or salsa.

“We’ll have a little bit of all of that,” she said.
She said that many times people come up to her afterward and say, “I didn’t know I like jazz.”
“A lot of us live with jazz every day,” she said.
Jennifer Thomas can be reached at 231-4638.