Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend

Honoring the Legacy of Jazz at Wesleyan

Founded in the spirit of artistic excellence and cultural exchange, the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend is one of the university’s most anticipated annual events. Each April, the Center for the Arts welcomes celebrated jazz artists and student ensembles to the stage, creating a vibrant space for community, creativity, and improvisation. 

Saxophonist, composer, and scholar Bill Barron (1927–1989) started teaching as a faculty member at Wesleyan in 1975, bringing guest artists to perform on campus, and served as Chair of the Music Department. Barron also started the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra, giving students the opportunity to perform on the same stage as visiting jazz luminaries. The group has been directed by Professor of Music and African American Studies Jay Hoggard ’76, MA ’91 since 1991. Hoggard calls the creation of music a deep, cultural, spiritual, social practice.  

“Wesleyan’s focus is music in the cultural context, with an awareness of historic, geopolitical, economic, and social factors that go into shaping the vocabulary," says Hoggard.

He has invited ensembles large and small to perform on campus. The African-American Music Program Weekend in 1992 included special guests flutist James Newton and bassist Mark Helias. A decade later, the first Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend in 2002 featured the Bobby Hutcherson Quartet.