Spotlight | Music 

The Golden Anniversary of MIT Jazz

The 2012-2013 season marks the 50th anniversary of formal jazz performance and study at MIT.

This academic year’s special performances and events celebrating the golden anniversary of jazz at MIT will culminate on April 27, 2013 with a Gala Concert in Kresge Auditorium featuring the world premiere of an original piece by Chick Corea, specially composed for this performance by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.  An NEA Jazz Master, 18-time Grammy winner, and Chelsea native, Corea has strong ties to the Boston-area and fond teenage memories of hearing Herb Pomeroy perform.

It was 50 years ago that the legendary jazz trumpeter Herb Pomeroy joined the MIT Music Program and brought the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble to national prominence during his tenure as its director (1963-1985). Under Pomeroy’s leadership, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble became one of the first three collegiate bands invited to participate at the Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival. The band also gained notoriety at the Notre Dame and Villanova Jazz Festivals.

Herb Pomeroy’s legacy to MIT continues to date; thanks to the generosity of the Pomeroy Family, Herb’s music library, recordings, and personal papers are now a part of the MIT Institute Archives.

 

Gala Concert, April 27, Kresge

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The MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble