Beloved curator and namesake of this series, national recording artist, and Director of Jazz Studies at GMU, Darden Purcell's exceptional voice and talent return to the amphitheater stage. One of the most anticipated of our jazz series concerts every year.

First time at our series, Geoffrey Dean is a jazz pianist, composer, author, and educator, yes, but he is more than that -- he is a jazz tour de force. His music spans the entire genre of jazz – from blues and hard bop influences to classical music, R&B, and modern jazz.

A trumpet virtuoso, Graham Breedlove has performed on four continents in more than twenty countries, with headliners representing more than one hundred Grammy nominations. The Saturday Night Live Band, Ray Charles, Wynton Marsalis, Ramsey Lewis, Mariah Carey, and Doc Severinsen are just some with whom he has performed. Graham will bring it, guarantied.

BLOOM is sure to inspire. Through the group's love of rich harmony and collaborative music-making, they reimagine pop, jazz, neo-soul, and alternative music through lush vocal textures and inventive arrangements.

With a transcendent voice that puts its own stamp on classics and exhilarates audiences, Emily Davies currently features with the Carter Stevens Big Band and has appeared with the American Festival Pops Orchestra, the Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra, the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble, and the Mason Jazz Ensemble. Add in her sublime mastery of the flute and you can understand why we are excited to welcome her to the Darden and Friends series.

We are proud to have award-winning saxophonist and composer Stephen Philip Harvey close this year's series. How about these for accolades, reviewing his Multiversal album: “A composer and bandleader with a knack for translating com-book action into instrumental jazz fireworks." (DownBeat Magazine); “A bold, super-powered live album that cements his place as one of contemporary jazz’s adventurous large-ensemble voices" (UK Vibe); “His compositions and first-class arrangements connect the jazz tradition with the spirit of contemporary African American music." (Jazz’n’More).