Reno Reporter

The Reno Jazz Festival celebrated 60 years of jazz with a first-time live broadcast component.

According to a press release shared by the University of Reno, Nevada, the festival, held this year on April 28-30, was designed to unite the entire community in the celebration of 60 years of excellence in jazz. Since 1962, this city-renowned festival has brought thousands of young musicians to the University of Nevada's Reno campus for three full days of jazz performances, workshops, concerts and training.

“Sixty years is no small achievement and much gratitude and credit are due to all those that have been a part of Reno Jazz Festival (RJF) over the decades: students, parents, directors, adjudicators, headliners, volunteers and the many past and present members of the RJF Team," Peter Epstein, festival director and saxophone professor, said. “We’ve learned a huge amount in the last 60 years and especially in the last two years, as we have had a little more time to think and reflect about what the Reno Jazz Festival represents and what we hope to achieve during the next 60 years.”

The Reno Jazz Festival celebrated 60 years. | Jens Thekkeveettil/Unsplash

According to the release, RJF is usually an event of more than 8,000 people. Although this year's event was smaller, it remained full of content and art. The release reported on a first for the festival: All activities incorporated a face-to-face and live broadcast component. This made the festival accessible to schools and musicians from all over the country.

In addition, some of the country's top and best jazz artists and educators made possible more than 15 workshops on a variety of topics in connection with jazz.  

According to the release, the workshops covered topics like "Forging a New Legacy in Jazz" with Berklee College of Music’s managing director of the Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, "Finding and Honing Your Compositional Voice" with pianist and composer Annie Booth and "Finding Your Way through Harmony" with saxophonist and composer Otto Lee.