Cancelled - Jazz Ensemble - Jazz 4 Justice

with special guest Damien Groleau

Saturday, April 18 - 2020

In accordance with UVA's latest UVA COVID-19 policy this event is cancelled. 
If you have questions, please contact the UVA Music Department at 434.924.3052 or e-mail music@virginia.edu.
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Please call the Music Department at 434.924.3052 for more information.

 

 

The UVA Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of John D’earth, will present their third annual "Jazz 4 Justice" concert on Saturday, April 18th at 8pm in Old Cabell Hall with special guest french pianist/composer Damien Groleau, and The University Jazz Singers.

This concert is co-sponsored by Jazz 4 Justice, a coalition of jazz lovers from the legal community who have sponsored  jazz concerts and raised close to $500,000.00 since 2001 to support legal aid for those in need. This Jazz4Justice concert benefits the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Legal Aid Justice Center & the UVA Jazz Program.

Special guest, Damien Groleau, is a French pianist, flautist and composer, from Besançon, France.  The artistic collaboration between John D'earth and Damien Groleau was established when D'earth traveled to Besançon, France last autumn as part of the Charlottesville sister city commission.

Familiar from early childhood with the keyboard and improvisation, Damien Groleau studied improvised and classical piano with Igor Blagodatov. At 16, he won the national contest of Jeunesses musicales de France, as well as the Jeunes Talents contest of L'Illiade in Strasbourg, with his first trio of compositions and improvisations "Sunjazz". His career on stage began as a teenager with numerous engagements in jazz groups and Cuban music in France and Switzerland (Festival d'Audincourt, Montreux Jazz festival). After two years of training in Paris at the Didier Lockwood school in 2002-2003, he completed his training as a pianist and composer with François Couturier at the Montbéliard conservatory.

Damien Groleau studied the flute with the great Cuban flutist Orlando Maraca Valle in Paris and with the Brazilian choro flutist Antonio Rocha in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to his emerging career as a pianist, he is an active flute performer of choro - popular music from Brazil (with Zé Barbeiro, Verioca), Cuban music (with Matanzas, El Cartel) but also music from the Antilles and Reunion (Mala'ka, René & Marco Lacaille).

Groleau has traveled the world with his projects: French West Indies, Tunisia, Holland Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, United States, Singapore, Indonesia, and, of course, France where he lives. At the age of 27, Damien Groleau recorded two solo piano discs, "With You", a collection of jazz standards, and "Pawana" inspired by a JMG Leclésio novel, which contains an hour of original music, was reviewed in the bi-monthly "Jazzman", and broadcast on France Musique ("Le Premier CD" Gaëlle Le Gallic). His second solo album, "Aubes" was released in 2018.

The UVA Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of trumpeter/composer John D’earth, has become known as one of the most creative college big bands in the country. The group’s performances feature classic repertoire from across the spectrum of Jazz history, Jazz arrangements of music from diverse genres, and original compositions and arrangements, from within the band, by the students and the director. The UVA Jazz Ensemble comprises undergraduates, graduate students, and community members.  They offer three concerts per academic year and present numerous guest artists both from our area, and from the national and international jazz scene. 

The University Jazz Singers has joined the Jazz Ensemble as a student-run satellite that orbits around the band.  This will be their fifth Jazz Ensemble appearance and their third time representing Jazz 4 Justice.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda. Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Road, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner.  Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall. 

Tickets are $10 for the General Public, $9 for UVA Faculty and staff, $5 for students, and free for UVA Students who reserve in advance.  Tickets can be purchased at the UVA Arts Box Office at http://www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/ or 434.924.3376.  Tickets will also be sold in the lobby of Old Cabell Hall one hour prior to the event start time.

All events are subject to change. 

To see a list of all the UVA Jazz Events visit http://music.virginia.edu/jazz-events

Address

UVA Department of Music
112 Old Cabell Hall
P.O. Box 400176 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4176

Email: music@virginia.edu