Musician Ryan Kauffman ’97 is the special guest at the 2022 EMU Homecoming and Family Weekend Celebration Concert Friday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium.
The program includes favorites from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonius Monk and Richard Rodgers, as well as a selection of Kauffman’s innovative and original jazz compositions with a combo of some of the finest professional jazz musicians in the region.
EMU’s Jazz Ensemble is directed by Professor Kyle Remnant. Members include Indigo Gott, Evan Kauffman, Thaddeus Jackson, Josh Ayers, Sue Bender and Luke Haynes; Jacob Loya, Andrew Troyer, Margaret Coffman, and Christopher Campagna; and Will Stutzman, John Jantzen, Caleb Hostetler and Luke Haynes.
The Ryan Kauffman Jazz Combo includes Royce Campbell, electric guitar; Pete Spaar, bass; and Marlon Foster, drums.
The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based saxophonist, woodwind artist and teacher directs the jazz ensemble at Millersville University and leads several music projects, including The (717) Collective and Triology. He is a founding member of the Naked Eye Ensemble.
Kauffman performs throughout the Central Pennsylvania region, including appearances at Bethlehem Musikfest, Tribeca New Music, Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz, New Music Gathering, Lancaster Jazz Festival, Lancaster Summer Arts Festival. He has also performed at the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, and Roots & Blues in Missouri. He has had the privilege of performing with Ron Thomas, Peter Paulsen, Harrisburg Symphony, Reading Symphony, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, and the Liberty Wind Symphony.
Tickets are adults/$10 advance, $15 at the door; EMU student ID or 12 and under, free. Click here to visit the EMU Box Office. The concert will also be livestreamed at EMU’s Facebook page.