On Saturday, March 28 th at 10:30am, the halls of Hendersonville High will once
again vibrate with the sounds of jazz at the opening of the eighth annual high
school “Joy of Jazz Festival”! Then at 4:00pm, the students will show off what they
have learned with a concert, free and open to the public, in the Hendersonville
High School auditorium.
The “Joy of Jazz Festival” was established in 2017 by then Hendersonville
Community Music Center Director, Robin Tolleson. After Robin’s sudden passing
in June of 2019, the HCMC board and the Tolleson family decided to use monies
donated in Rob’s memory to continue the “Joy of Jazz Festival” in Rob’s honor.
Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Kealy Family Foundation have since donated
monies to continue the festival.
The festival is a one-day clinic in which local high school jazz bands work with
professional musicians, fine tuning their pieces and working on improvisation.
This year students from Hendersonville High School, and West Henderson High
School will work with respected teaching artists including Shannon Hoover (MA-
Anderson University and Greenville Jazz Collective), Jason DeCristofaro
(Doctorate-Boston University and Director of Creative Arts & Events at Warren
Wilson), Will Boyd (MA-University of TN), Iliana Rose (University of Miami), and
Justin Ray (Berklee College of Music, Boston). The community is invited to the
concert at 4:00pm in the Hendersonville High School auditorium.
For more information, contact lead festival coordinator, Shannon Hoover at
profmus1@yahoo.com and (864) 353-7529, or Jocelyn Tolleson at
jocelynctolleson@gmail.com.
