LIBERTY — The Liberty Central School District Music Department will host the 26th Annual Liberty Jazz Festival on Saturday, Feb. 3, in the Liberty Middle School gymnasium (Snow date, Sunday, February 4th). The festival will feature High School and Middle School jazz ensembles from the Liberty, Monticello, Tri-Valley and Livingston Manor school districts. The students will work with a renowned jazz artist during the day and all of the groups will collaborate for a concert at 7 p.m.

This year’s clinician is Sam Newsome, a music educator and well-known trombonist in the Hudson Valley.  Mr. Newsome has performed with The Big Smoothies, the Willi Amrod Band, the Bottoms Up Jazz Band, Blue Food, Professor Louie and The Crowmatix, The Big Takeover, and as a member of the Woodstock Playhouse Pit Orchestra. He has toured with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra for three separate seasons, and performed in numerous orchestral performances with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Northern Dutchess Symphony and Newburgh Symphony.

Mr. Newsome is the band director at New Paltz High School, directing Concert Band, Jazz Band, Marching Band, African Drumming, Music History and Music Theory. He holds a master degree in Wind Conducting and bachelor degrees in Music Performance (trombone) and Music Education (euphonium) from the State University of New York at Fredonia. We are looking forward to having such a fine musician work with our students. 

The clinic will take place from 3-5:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the Liberty Middle School Gymnasium. Admission for the event is $5. For a family of five or more the maximum price will be $25. Tickets will be on sale in the gymnasium lobby. For more information, please contact Mr. Eric Aweh at 845-292-5400 ext. 5116, or eaweh@libertyk12.org. We look forward to seeing you all at this great event!