Wangaratta Jazz Festival is excited to announce their line up for this year’s festival. The event will take place over the pre-Melbourne cup weekend of 29th of October to 1st of November.
With a huge line up of International and Australian acts the festival is anticipated to be the best one yet.
Heading the line up will be Grammy Award-winning US jazz singer Kurt Elling. He performed in 1998 at the festival as a newcomer to the Australian audience and was a hit,now established as the most accomplished and acclaimed jazz singer on the international circuit.
The Festival's artistic director, Adrian Jackson said, "One of the great things about this Festival is that we've been able to invite many international artists here who aren't necessarily well-known in this part of the world, and that was the case when Kurt came here in 1998. He made a huge impression. Audiences loved him, critics and musicians saw that he was the real deal, and he has since toured Australia regularly, winning more fans with every tour.
Adrian Jackson predicts that audiences will be delighted to see Ellis again as this will be his only place he tours in Victoria.
The festival will include international guests as well as Australian artists from across a broad spectrum from very traditional to very comtemporary jazz with big names, outstanding young talents and established artists who have been yet to be recognized.
The festival also announces a new ticketing system where you have the ability to purchase an allocated seat for performances in the WPAC Theatre. This allows you to be sure of an initial seat at the beginning of a performance rather than having to risk not getting a spot because you were at the end of a queue. There will be 100 seats available for each performance with a further 100 available if they are all sold. These seats will be released to queuing patrons if they are empty when the performance begins.
There will be over 75 events at 10 venues where most of the event are covered by the festival pass.
Ticketing this year comprises of:
- The festival pass which offers 3 days of music and admission to all venues at $180 or $145 for the early bird orders before September 2010.
- A student pass for patrons aged 16-25 for $100 or $80(early bird)
Along with the diverse line up of jazz performers Wangaratta Jazz also offers:
- Free entertainment at the Reid St Community Stage (sponsored by the Rural City of Wangaratta) where the heart of the CBD is converted into a food, wine, and entertainment mall for the weekend. The stage features free music acts from 10 o'clock in the morning and well into the evening where patrons can enjoy the quality wines and gourmet foods(for which the surrounding region is renowned). Food and wine can be enjoyed at street stores in town over the weekend or meals at venues like Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre, Baileys of Glenrowan or the Wangaratta Gateway.
- Umbrella events: Bowls and Jazz at Wangaratta Bowls Club
- The Youth Jazz Workshops will be staged throughout the festival weekend (Saturday and Sunday) at The Centre, in Chisholm Street, Wangaratta. The workshops will conclude in a free public concert, to be held in the Performing Arts Centre’s Theatre on Monday 1 November, from 3.00-4.00pm.Participation in the Youth Jazz Workshops is free for school students, $10 for tertiary students, $20 for other participants. In all cases, pre-registration is required
