Event Calendar

Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts, the Fond du Lac Jazz Festival and Education Foundation, Inc., the Lighthouse Big Band, and the Valley Jazz Institute, Inc. are proud to continue their partnership to promote jazz education and performance, with the annual April “Jazz Appreciation Month” (JAM).

Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly known as “JAM”) was created at the Smithsonian Institute in 2001 to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz, America’s original art form, for the entire month of April. JAM is intended to stimulate and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz – to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and more.

Throughout this April, JAM celebrations at THELMA will include an educational jam session geared toward students and led by WAMI winner the Jazz Orgy; “West Coast Jazz 1952-53; The Chet Baker/Gerry Mulligan Quartet”  A musical presentation of that pivotal band’s “Cool” music along with a PowerPoint of what life was like in 1952-53, including ads, world news, and events of the day, presented by Brad Curran and the Jazz Quintet DIG; plus the regular performances by the Lighthouse Big Band; all culminating in the Fond du Lac Jazz Festival on Friday, April 28th and Saturday, April 29h.

The festival, which began in 1983, is among the longest running jazz festivals in the state of Wisconsin. The 2023 Fond du Lac Jazz Festival headliners are the renowned vocalist Janet Planet, tenor saxophonist Tom Washatka, and Fond du Lac native Mario Friedel, performing “Under the Venus Moon,” a Grammy nominated recording in 2022, featuring compositions by Friedel, arranged for big band by Washatka, and sung by Janet Planet.The festival will also return to the two-night affair with a “Meet and Greet” the artists on Friday evening, along with a clinic and musical presentation by the Valley Jazz Institute’s “Students’ Jam!”

Future plans for this jazz education partnership include forming and presenting student jazz bands, “the Valley Jazz Institute Ensembles,” as part of the new Valley Jazz Institute, Inc.  In collaboration with local educators, the VJI will serve to present a variety of enrichment programs for local and area school jazz band students. The Institute will be  dedicated to teaching, learning, and presenting jazz, with the goal of expanding educational opportunities outside of the classroom, creating a professional foundation for lifelong musical growth, and representing their community through wholesome entertainment.