Rain forced the UNC Jazz Faculty Concert indoors, but there was still a packed house in Moeser Auditorium on Sept. 12. The energy in the audience and among the performers was palpable, with people of all ages erupting into applause after every song.
Some performers were faculty in the UNC jazz studies program, which has been a part of the UNC Department of Music for over 40 years.
The jazz studies program welcomes students of all majors to explore the genre. Many students at the concert had their laptops open as they worked on an assignment for Music 145: Introduction to Jazz, analyzing the way every instrument was played throughout the show.
Stephen Anderson, the director of jazz studies at UNC, led the concert and played piano.
He said the jazz faculty concerts have been going on since he started at UNC about 18 years ago, making them a long-standing tradition. The event typically happens outside of Hill Hall, so people can catch the music as they walk across campus or picnic on the grass near the building.
Junior Emma Gonzalez, a psychology major who was a vocalist at the concert, said she has been performing jazz since eighth grade.
Gonzalez used to be a music major, but she dropped to a minor because she said the most important part of her music education was the performance aspect, something that she did not need a major to do.
She'll perform in faculty gigs alongside Anderson with little to no preparation, she said.
“Something really special about that is you really don’t — it’s kinda scary – you don't really know what’s going to happen when you go on that stage, but it always ends up being beautiful,” Gonzalez said.
