KINGSVILLE (March 14, 2024) — Middle School and High School jazz bands from around the state will descend on Texas A&M University-Kingsville for the 56th Annual Jazz Festival Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, hosted by the School of Music.
The competition will begin at 3:30 p.m. Friday in both the Performance Hall in the Music Education Complex and Jones Auditorium. The festival will conclude with a concert Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall featuring A&M-Kingsville’s Jazz Band II and Jazz Band I with guest performer award-winning jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh.
Admission is free to all events except the Saturday evening concert at 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall. Tickets for that are $10 general admission. Texas A&M-Kingsville students are free with a student ID. Tickets may be reserved at the School of Music office in the Music Education Complex.
About Linda May Han Oh
Based in New York City, Linda May Han Oh is a bassist and composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lynne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen and Vijay Iyer.
Born in Malaysia and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Oh has received many awards including second place at the BASS2010 Competition, semi-finalist at the BMW Bass competition and honorary mention at the 2009 Thelonious Monk Bass Competition.
She also received the 2010 Bell Award for Young Australian Artist of the Year and was the 2012 Downbeat Critic’s Poll Rising Star on bass. Oh was voted the 2018 and 2019 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association as well as 2019 Up-and-coming Artist of the Year. She also received the Jerome Foundation Fellowship and the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant for 2019. Also, in 2019, she was voted Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and was the recipient of the Margaret Whitton Award.
She has had five releases as a leader that have received critical acclaim. Her most recent release Aventurine is a double quartet album featuring string quartet and vocal group Invenio.
Oh, has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the BMI Film Composers Workshop, Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch and Sabrina McCormick’s short film A Good Egg.
Oh is based in New York City and is currently on faculty at the New School’s School of Jazz and Berklee College of Music. As an active educator, she has created a series of lessons for the BassGuru app for iPad and iPhone. She is currently the bassist of Pat Metheny’s quartet.
For more information, contact the School of Music office at 361-593-2803.
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56th Annual Texas A&M University-Kingsville Jazz Festival
Event Schedule
Friday, March 22
3:30 to 6 p.m.—High School/Middle School Jazz Band Competition, Performance Hall and Jones Auditorium. Free admission
7 p.m.—Friday Evening Concert, Performance Hall, Featuring Jazz Band III and Jazz Combo I with Linda May Han Oh. Free Admission
Saturday, March 23
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.—High School/Middle School Jazz Band Competition, Performance Hall and Jones Auditorium. Free admission
Noon—Clinic by Linda May Han Oh, Performance Hall, Free admission
7 p.m.—Saturday Evening Concert, Performance Hall, Featuring Jazz Band II, the Awards Presentation and Jazz Band I with Linda May Han Oh.
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