Entering its 52nd year, the Larry McWilliams Dimensions in Jazz Festival attracts over 35 high school jazz bands annually. The bands participate in jazz band and combo competitions as well as clinics. The day ends with an evening concert featuring the two winning bands from the day’s competition and the Ball State Jazz Lab Ensemble with special guest artists. Ball State Jazz faculty and invited guests present clinics and judge the competitions.

2025 Guest Artist: Alexis Cole

Called "one of the great voices of today," by Jonathan Schwartz, and praised for her “Impeccable control and style” by Michael Feinstein, Alexis Cole has been compared to classic jazz singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Anita O'Day. A Top Winner of the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition judged by jazz icons TS Monk, Catherine Russell, Grady Tate and Dr. Billy Taylor, 3rd prize winner in the Montreux Jazz Vocal Competition, and a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan Competition, Alexis has a dozen albums to her credit on Motéma, Chesky, Venus Records and Zoho. She has recorded with such artists as Fred Hersch, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Don Braden. She’s been a soloist with the Boston Pops, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has headlined at clubs around the US and Asia.

As an educator, Alexis was the head of vocal jazz at the conservatory at SUNY Purchase and counts Grammy Winning Samara Joy and rising star Anaïs Reno as her students. She is the founder and director of JazzVoice.com, an online educational community featuring singing classes, professional development sessions and private lessons from a roster of renowned jazz vocalists and educators. And she is artistic director of the Virginia Beach Vocal Jazz Summit. Her most recent release “Jazz Republic: Taiwan, The United States and the Freedom of Swing” features original arrangements for big band and orchestra, performed by Alexis with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra. Alexis' latest endeavor is MusicAuditions.com, a website to connect musicians to employers.

Learn more about the Ball State University Jazz Ensembles.

Livestream:

This concert will be offered as a livestream - visit the Concert Livestream Page to watch live. Streaming begins approximately 15 minutes prior to scheduled concert start time.

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Date: March 1, 2025

Time: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Location:

Ball State Music Instruction Building
1785-1799 W Riverside Ave, Muncie, IN 47303

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