Jazz ensembles set to perform Nov. 13 concert at The Pub

Northwest Missouri State University’s jazz ensembles are taking their instruments off campus again this fall to perform at a Maryville hangout.

The concert featuring Northwest’s Studio Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, at The Pub. The performance groups are under the direction of Dr. William Richardson, a professor of music at Northwest.

The Pub is an entertainment center and bar located at 414 N. Main St. in Maryville. The concert is free, and The Pub admits adults 21 and over.

“We are very happy to return to the Maryville Pub for an evening of fantastic music,” Richardson said. “Our students have prepared well for this semester-ending performance for our jazz groups, and I am excited to feature several student directors.”

The ensembles will perform a variety of pieces, including music from the Count Basie library and pieces written by composers Tom Kubis, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, John Fedchock and Rick Stitzel, among others.

Under the direction of Richardson, the jazz ensembles perform multiple concerts on the Northwest campus annually, and the Jazz Ensemble regularly tours Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The Jazz Ensemble also has performed at the Missouri Music Educators Association and Nebraska Music Educators Association conventions.

In 2020, the Jazz Ensemble was named the “Outstanding University Jazz Ensemble” at the University of Kansas Jazz Festival in Lawrence, Kansas. The ensemble has been invited to perform next summer at the 2024 Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda, Iowa, marking the third consecutive year the Northwest Jazz Ensemble will be featured at the event.