Brecon Beacons College and Brecon Jazz Club to celebrate the 40th Jazz Festival with a June performance

This year, Brecon Jazz is having its 40th Festival, and to help mark the occasion, local students have planned an outdoor performance for 8th June.

 Carrying on from a similar collaboration last year with the Jazz Club, the event will definitely be one to remember following months of work between the Festival organisers and Brecon Beacons College (part of NPTC Group of Colleges).

Taking place outside the CWTCH, Brecon Beacons College, BTEC Business students aged 16 and over will be managing a ‘musical and visual taster day’ on Thursday 8th June as part of their coursework. Celebrating the last 40 years of musical Brecon summers, the day’s headliner will be Neath College’s Jazz Ensemble performing live music for the town to hear and enjoy. The students and Brecon Jazz Club will also have stands to promote the upcoming August Festival programme as well as a QR code for passers-by to donate towards another 40 years of lively jazz culture in the town.

The Business class have already shown off their promotional skills and creativity by designing the gig poster as a team (pictured). With help from the Jazz Club’s archived footage, the learners have also put together a video showreel, dubbed #40yrsyoung, of the last 40 years of Brecon Jazz history to play on a loop throughout the day. Last June, students and the Jazz Club caused a ‘wow factor’ with the video spectacle displayed on a giant outdoor screen next to the ensemble, made possible with support from the Audrey Tyler Trust.

If you’d like to hear live music from a new generation of jazz performers, everyone is welcome to come along between 11:30 am and 4 pm on Thursday 8th June, with seating provided by the College. The CWTCH is the old Tourist Information Centre building in the Co-op Car Park, Brecon.

Stay tuned for a report of the event, plus an announcement of a new gallery exhibition at Theatr Brycheiniog opening on the 6th of July, which will feature the College students’ jazz work from the last two years. The Jazz Festival this year will take place on 11-13th August, with additional showcase events scheduled for the weekends before and after the main Festival weekend (Sunday 6th and Sat/Sun 19th & 20th August).

Business Studies Tutor Romina West is “so happy our BTEC learners will be running this event for a second year in a row. All our first-year learners are having a taste of what it’s really like to run an outdoor performance event, and this is great for their public speaking, organisational, design and teamwork skills. Thank you to the Brecon Jazz Club for helping to build their confidence and giving them this opportunity during a very busy and exciting year for the Festival.”

Lynne, Sharon and Roger of Brecon Jazz Club said: “Working with the students again has been an inspiring experience – they are using up-to-date skills and resources in this creative project, guided by really enthusiastic and supportive tutors, who are all great credit to the College.”