Southeastern to host Bill Evans Jazz Festival
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
by: Rene Abadie
PIANIST, COMPOSER ESNEAULT TO HIGHLIGHT BILL EVANS FESTIVAL
Acclaimed pianist, composer and Grammy Award winner Michael Esneault will be a featured
performer at Southeastern Louisiana University’s annual Bill Evans Festival to be
held on campus Feb. 15-18. Information can be obtained by calling 985-549-2184.
HAMMOND – In honor of one of its most distinguished alumni, the Southeastern Louisiana
University Department of Fine and Performing Arts will present the annual Bill Evans
Jazz Festival Feb. 15-18.
The festival will feature free performances by the Alumni Jazz Ensemble, the
SLU Jazz Combos, and SLU jazz faculty. All performances are free and open to the public
and will be held in the Pottle Music Building Recital Hall.
This year, the festival will feature a master class with guest artist Mike Esneault.
An Emmy Award-winning pianist and composer, Esneault has enjoyed success across many
mediums including television, cinema, and radio, in addition to his triumphs as a
recording artist. He has recorded more than 30 scores for the Public Broadcasting
Service and composed pieces for companies such as Exxon, McDonald’s and Blue Cross.
His arrangements have been performed by orchestras around the world and in places
such as Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Esneault is also an accomplished clinician
and teacher.
“Mike was invited this year because he is a fine piano player, a wonderful writer
and a great instructor,” said Michael Bothers, co-director for the Southeastern Jazz
Ensemble and one of the festival’s coordinators. “The Jazz Ensemble will play several
of his compositions in concert, which is great for our students because they will
experience quality new music.”
The festival will also include the Louisiana Association for Jazz Education (LAJE)
State Music Festival, a competition with performances by area middle and high school
jazz ensembles. The festival will start Friday morning and conclude Saturday at noon
in the Pottle Music Building Auditorium.
The performance schedule includes: Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m., Alumni Jazz Concert; Feb.
16, 7:30 p.m., Southeastern Jazz Combos; Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m., Southeastern Jazz Faculty
Concert with guest artist Mike Esneault; Saturday, Feb. 18, 1 p.m., master class with
Esneault; and 3 p.m., Southeastern Jazz Ensemble in concert with Esneault.
Masterclasses and performances are traditional parts of the Bill Evans Jazz Festival,
but this year the department will be adding a more tangible aspect. Artifacts of Evans’
will be on display in the Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery throughout the duration
of the festival. Photographs, album covers and letters written by Evans will be exhibited
to showcase the jazz legends’ achievements and his history with Southeastern.
Brothers said former Southeastern faculty member Ron Nethercutt will present
a lecture Wednesday, Feb. 15, at noon on Evans in the Art Gallery located in East
Stadium.
“Bill Evans is one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, so naturally we
would want to highlight his connection to Southeastern,” said Brothers.
Many of the articles that will be on display were taken from archives maintained
by the uiniversity. However, some were gathered by Brothers personally.
“One of the letters in the exhibit has never seen the light of day until now,”
he said. “Also, it took some doing, but we will have a program from the 1994 GRAMMY
Awards where Evans received a Lifetime Achievement Award. We also were able to reach
out to former members of the Bill Evans Trio, percussionist Marty Morell and bassist
Chuck Israels for scans of photographs of Bill.”
For additional information, call the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at
985-549-2184.
