The summer tradition continues: Knox Community Jazz Orchestra opens concert series at Ariel Foundation Park

MOUNT VERNON – Once again, the Knox Community Jazz Orchestra will kick off the summer concert series at Ariel Foundation Park. Celebrating its fifth year, the talented 20-member ensemble will perform on Sunday, May 29, at the park’s Schnormeier Event Center.

The free concert begins at 6 p.m. Guests may bring their own chairs or purchase a VIP table for reserved seating. More information is available on the park’s website, arielfoundationpark.org, under Events.

“We love performing at the park,” said band leader and Kenyon music professor Ted Buehrer, who founded the jazz orchestra in 2017. “We’re pleased and proud to have opened the concert series every year since we started, except for when COVID shut things down.”

The band has won a local following for its high-energy performances of Swing-Era classics and pieces from the later jazz scene. It’s music for all ages – and for dancing. 

“For this concert,” said Buehrer, “we’re including a string of perfect swing-dance tunes during our second set. But almost every song lends itself to dancing.”

Several pieces will feature the band’s vocalist, Amanda Mayville, who sings and acts regularly in the community-theater productions of MTVarts. Other numbers will showcase the talents of instrumental soloists. For example, alto saxophonist Chuck Dettmar, the band director at the Centerburg middle and high schools, will carry the lyrical melody of the 1940 standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” Trombonist Jeremy Smith, who teaches at Kenyon and other colleges, will take the lead on the light bossa-nova tune “Since You Put It That Way.”

Additional solos will come from Eric Snyder on tenor sax, Dane Heuchemer on trumpet, Andrew Clarkson Jr. on guitar, and Bob Pelfrey on trombone. Buehrer solos on trumpet as well.

The jazz orchestra will continue its 2022 season with a performance on Aug. 12 in the Woodward Opera House, as part of the Mount Vernon Music and Arts Festival. Another concert is being planned for November. For more information, go to the band’s website, knoxcommunityjazz.org.