The U of A Department of Music and its Jazz Program are pleased to announce that famed jazz saxophonist Steve Wilson will be this year’s artist-in-residency at the 2025 UARK Jazz Festival taking place April 15-19.

The festival will feature jazz ensembles from across Northwest Arkansas, including high school and middle school bands and ensembles from the U of A Jazz Program. Additionally, the festival will feature Wilson in various roles: performing with the U of A Jazz Orchestra and jazz faculty, as well as with additional local students and professional musicians.

Wilson’s visit is made possible by the Moye Family Jazz Residency program and a partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society.

“It is so exciting to see this kind of collaborative project come to fruition,” said Jake Hertzog, the university’s jazz area coordinator. “Steve is a world-class artist and teacher, and it is so special to be able to host him for this extended residency where he can perform and interact with so many students, musicians and audiences.”

“The Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society is likewise thrilled to work with the Department of Music on this residency program,” said its director Robert Ginsburg, who added that events like this also further “connect the dots within the jazz community of Northwest Arkansas.”

“Steve Wilson is a longtime colleague and collaborator who has performed in a variety of venues and ensembles presented by the Jazz Society, but never before in a setting which draws upon all his talents as a musician, composer and teacher,” Ginsburg said.

Event Lineup

The 2025 UARK Jazz Festival will take place at multiple venues around the region and the full schedule of its performers will be announced later this spring.

All events will be free and open to the public. The main evening performances include:

• April 15: U of A Jazz Ensembles – 7:30 p.m. at the Union Theater on the U of A campus
• April 16: All day, local and school ensembles; Steve Wilson with the U of A Jazz Orchestra – 7:30 p.m. at the Faulkner Center for the Performing Arts
• April 17: Steve Wilson with U of A jazz faculty – 7:30 p.m. at the Music Depot, Rogers
• April 18: Jazz Workshop at the U of A campus
• April 19: Steve Wilson with U of A faculty and students – 7:30 p.m. at the Thaden School in Bentonville

In addition to the UARK Jazz Festival, Wilson will also be the artist-in-residence for the Northwest Arkansas Jazz All-Star Program, a unique program for high school students created and presented by NAJS.

Now in its ninth season, the Northwest Arkansas Jazz All Star program brings together young aspiring musicians from 14 regional high schools to study, rehearse and perform jazz big band repertoire over three months.

A guest jazz luminary is brought in each year to rehearse and perform with the students at their final concert. This year’s final concert featuring Wilson will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, in Starr Theater at the Walton Arts Center.

For more information about the festival or U of A’s Jazz Program, contact Jake Hertzog, jazz area coordinator, at jhertzog@uark.edu.

About Steve Wilson

Saxophonist and flautist Steve Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 150 recordings and ensembles led by such celebrated artists as Chick Corea, Ron Carter, George Duke, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Joe Henderson and Charlie Byrd, among many others.

He is regularly cited in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers’ Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone and flute categories. Wilson is currently a touring member of Grammy-winning ensembles led by Christian McBride, Maria Schneider, Billy Childs and Buster Williams.

His work in film includes Lulu on The Bridge as artistic consultant to Harvey Keitel, and on soundtracks for the anime series Cowboy Bebop. With nine recordings under his name, he leads two acclaimed quartets: Wilsonian’s Grain and The Analog Band.

Wilson is also a professor of music and director of Jazz Studies at City College of New York and co-director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Jazz. Much in demand as a clinician, he has been a visiting artist at institutions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Japan.

About the UARK Jazz Festival: The UARK Jazz Festival is hosted by the University of Arkansas Department of Music and the Arkansas Center for Black Music, both part of University of Arkansas’ Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. The festival annually features hundreds of performers, both students and professionals. Each year the festival features a major jazz artist; recent visiting artists have included Dave Liebman, Papo Vasquez, and Michael Wolff.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.