Bighorn Jazz Orchestra to celebrate new music and a new name on May 2

Sheridan College presents the Bighorn Jazz Orchestra on Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in Kinnison Hall at the Whitney Center for the Arts. The theme of the concert “New Music for a New Band,” reflects the new name for the group, formerly known as the Whitney Center Jazz Orchestra. Tickets range from $10 – $25 and are available online at sheridan.edu/arts or at the box office, (307) 675-0360.

The Bighorn Jazz Orchestra is comprised of the finest professional jazz musicians in the region, many of whom serve on the faculties of the University of Colorado, Colorado Christian University, Montana State University, Central Washington University, Northwest College, and Sheridan College. The Music Director of the Bighorn Jazz Orchestra is composer-arranger-trombonist Dr. Eric Richards, Director of Bands and Jazz Studies at Sheridan College. Eric’s music for jazz orchestra is published worldwide and has been performed on six continents by professional and educational ensembles.

The evening’s concert will feature regional and world premieres of new works by members of the band including “A Wheel with a Wheel,” composed by Bobby Watson and arranged by Gino Hernandez, “The Only Certainty,” a world premiere composed and arranged by Jon Ryan Gauer, “Wyonova,” composed and arranged by Ben Markley, noted jazz artist and Music Chair at the University of Wyoming, “La Verdad del Alma and The Crucible,” composed by Eric Richards as part of his fall 2024 sabbatical work, as well as paying tribute to recently departed jazz masters with the music of Chick Corea and Benny Golson.

For more information and to get tickets visit sheridan.edu/arts. The box office opens an hour prior to each performance.