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Jazz Festival

UNO's 50th Annual Great Plains Jazz Festival Sponsored by Omaha Performing Arts

Founded in 1973, the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Great Plains Jazz Festival is one of the premier educational jazz festivals in the nation.

The 2022 UNO/OPA Jazz Festival will take place at UNO on Friday, February 25 and at the Holland Center in downtown Omaha on Saturday, February 26.

Friday will include a daytime performance by The Big Bad Bones featuring Scott Whitfield and clinics presented by Eric Marienthal, Gordon Goodwin, and Scott Whitfield.

The Friday evening headliner performance will feature the Metropolitan Area Youth Jazz Orchestra (MAYJO) and UNO's Jazz I with Wayne Bergeron, Eric Marienthal, and Gordon Goodwin.

Saturday will feature a clinic presented by Arturo O'Farrill and an evening performance by the Grammy-winning Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Registration and ticket sales will open in fall of 2022.

Contact petermadsen@unomaha.edu for more information.

Sponsored By:

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Eric Marienthal

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Gordon Goodwin

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Arturo O'Farrill

The Great Plains Jazz Festival features nationally renowned adjudicators, clinicians and guest artists. The festival is designed to be an educational experience for band directors and students from middle school through college. Ensembles perform for written and recorded comments and then proceed to a different room for a clinic from one of the adjudicators. In addition to the individualized clinic that each band receives, participants also have the opportunity to attend general clinic sessions presented by guest artists and adjudicators. The highlight of the festival is the opportunity to hear professional jazz concerts for free or greatly reduced prices.

Jazz artists that have recently appeared at the Great Plains Jazz Festival include Brubeck Brothers, Bela Fleck, Doc Severinsen, Diane Schuur, the Jim Widner Big Band, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Jim Pugh, Marvin Stamm, Hubert Laws, and the Blue Note 7 featuring Ravi Coltrane and Nicholas Payton.