Arts & Culture

Have Yourself 'A Jazzy Holiday' at Singletary Center

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 12, 2019) Holiday cheer returns to the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts as it hosts Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors’ 16th annual winter concert. This year’s “A Jazzy Holiday Concert” will begin 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, in the Singletary Center Recital Hall.

The Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors (BAJA) are a popular performing ensemble affiliated with the Bluegrass Area Jazz Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the promotion of jazz education and the performance of jazz in the Bluegrass area. The group comprises musicians from the community, both professional and amateur, as well as students from Jazz Studies at UK School of Music. The group regularly performs in many places including Singletary Center, Ecton Park and other outdoor festivals, as well as with local middle and high school bands.

This 23-piece big band, which came together in 2004, performs under the direction of Miles Osland, artistic director. Osland serves on the School of Music faculty at the UK College of Fine Arts, where he is a professor of saxophone and director of UK Jazz Studies. UK alumnus David Hummel serves as musical director for the group.

Tickets for “A Jazzy Holiday Concert” are $12 for general admission and $5 for students. UK students may claim a free advance ticket with their student ID at the Singletary Center ticket office up to the day before the performance. To purchase tickets, contact Singletary Center ticket office by phone at 859-257-4929, online at www.scfatickets.com or visit the venue in person. 

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.