MURFREESBORO – Vocalist Sandra Dudley will perform a program with members of MTSU Combo 1 at 8 p.m., February 6, in Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. This will be the second concert in the MTSU Jazz Artist Series. “The evening concert will showcase the dynamic performing of one of Nashville’s finest singers,” said Jamey Simmons, Director of Jazz Studies. The program will feature members of the top student/graduate combo in the jazz area: Dylan Kubilus, alto saxophone; Daniel Kuk, piano; Ethan Assad, bass; and Miles Damaso, drums, along with a guest appearance by faculty jazz saxophonist Don Aliquo.
Nashville-based Sandra Dudley is a versatile singer who has entertained audiences for nearly forty years. An educator as well as a performer, she has been Assistant Professor of Commercial Voice at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, for the past 30 years, where she teaches commercial voice and seminars, jazz vocal styles, and graduate courses in commercial music, jazz, and improvisation.
Sandra has sung with many jazz ensembles, including The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The Jazz Orchestra of the Delta, the Tennessee Jazz Orchestra, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Nashville and Memphis Symphonies. She has performed with Fred Hersch, Marvin Stamm, Dave Catney, Bobby Militello, Barney Kessel, her husband Bruce Dudley, and many others. Sandra was among the winners of JAZZIZ Magazine’s Vocals on Fire Songwriting Competition with her original song, “Billie,” co-written by her husband, Bruce Dudley. This song appeared on a compilation project called “The Voices of the New Jazz Generation.” She can be heard on the CD “Big Band Reflections of Cole Porter” with the Memphis-based big band, “The Jazz Orchestra of the Delta,” directed by Dr. Jack Cooper on the Summit Label.
“The exciting thing for us as teachers is to showcase musicians who have a long-term commitment to the music, showing future generations the creative possibilities of jazz,” says Simmons. The program will feature a diverse selection of songs from the jazz repertoire arranged by her husband, Bruce Dudley. Ms. Dudley will conduct a free and open masterclass/clinic on Tuesday, February 4th, at 4:20 p.m. in Saunders Fine Arts room 101 on the MTSU campus.
Tickets for the February 6 concert are $10 for the public and free for MTSU students, faculty, and staff. Discounts for area band students and educators are also available. Tickets are available in the lobby of the Wright Music Building before the concert. For ticket reservations, email Jamey Simmons at James.Simmons@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2724.
The third concert in the MTSU Jazz Artist Series continues Saturday, March 29, with the MTSU Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival – a full-day event featuring performances of school ensembles, MTSU groups, jam sessions, educational sessions, and the 5:30 p.m. headline concert featuring dynamic jazz saxophonist Miguel Zenón. Dedicated to the memory of tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, the festival seeks to educate, inspire, and entertain audiences in the middle Tennessee area. For a complete schedule of concerts and clinics, see https://music.mtsu.edu/jazzfest/
For further information on this and other concerts in the MTSU School of Music, please visit the “Events Calendar” link at https://music.mtsu.edu/ . For more information about Dudley, see https://nashvillejazz.org/people/sandra-dudley/
Attached picture of Sandra Dudley.