600th anniversary celebrations get jazzed up

This week, to mark the 600th anniversary of the University of St Andrews, the University will host a four-day jazz festival. JazzFest 600 will celebrate the University’s place as a centre of jazz and jazz education, with a variety of events from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 October in and around Younger Hall.

The festival line-up includes concerts, jazz workshops with leading practitioners, and a reunion for alumni of the University’s Certificate and Diploma courses in Jazz. One of the highlights of the programme will be performances from the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra with pupils from Lundin Mill and Dunbog Primary Schools and the Fife Horn Union Junior Division.

The Festival brings to life the 600th Anniversary’s aim of developing friendships around the globe with supporters from as far away as Malawi are expected to make the trip to join in the occasion. Among the attendees will be special guest Mr Mwiza Chirwa, Head Teacher of Doroba Primary School in northern Malawi. Dunbog Primary School and Doroba Primary School been linked for six years – sharing educational projects, pen pal letters, cultural stories and playground games.

Welcoming Mr Chirwa, Ms Marion Paton, Head Teacher at Dunbog Primary School, said:

“I visited Doroba in the summer of 2010 and the welcome I received was amazing. Malawi is called the “Warm heart of Africa” and my welcome reflected this. I learned so much about the school and community and was keen for Mr Chirwa to share the same experience in Scotland.”

The Festival also reflects the University’s commitment to developing musical talent and appreciation. One of the objectives of the 600th Anniversary Fundraising campaign is to raise £4 million to provide a new music centre with practice rooms, performance spaces and social areas in the heart of the university. It will allow everyone in the community to enjoy music in all its forms, including jazz, with performances by professional and amateur musicians.

Tickets cost £10 / £8 concessions / £5 students, children under 12 free. Tickets are available from the Music Centre office in the Younger Hall, the Open Association office in St Katharine’s West, 16 The Scores, or on the door. For further information, please call 01334 462275.

Further festival details.

Find out more about the University’s effort to give music in St Andrews a purpose-built home.