News & Media

Legendary Trumpeter Pharez Whitted to Perform at Ohio Wesleyan

Free Jazz Band Concert Set for Oct. 28 in University’s Jemison Auditorium

DELAWARE, Ohio – Trumpeter Pharez Whitted has performed with music legends Nancy Wilson, Slide Hampton, John Mellencamp, Chaka Khan, George Duke, and Branford Marsalis, to name just a few. 

Of Whitted’s powerful performances, Chicago Tribune columnist Howard Reich has said: “Trumpeters who summon poetry and power with equal fervor are ever in short supply, which partly explains the appeal of Chicagoan Pharez Whitted. The sheer size and scope of Whitted’s sound place him in a tradition of larger-than-life trumpeters such as Jon Faddis, Maynard Ferguson, and Arturo Sandoval.” 

On Oct. 28, Whitted will lead a band of musicians in a free performance at Ohio Wesleyan University. The Pharez Whitted Jazz Septet will take at the stage at 7 p.m. in Jemison Auditorium inside OWU’s Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. 

Whitted, who earned a master’s degree at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, began his professional career in 1982. He recorded his first album, “Pharez Whitted,” for Motown in 1994 and has been recording solo albums ever since. His most recent release is 2014’s “The Tree of Life.” 

During his career, Whitted performed at the 1988 Presidential Inauguration and on The Arsenio Hall Show, Billboard Music Awards, and Motown Music Showcase. 

Ohio Wesleyan professor Larry Griffin, D.M.A, chair of the Department of Music, said the upcoming Pharez Whitted Jazz Septet performance is a “can’t-miss-community event.” 

Griffin, himself a renowned trumpeter, said area jazz lovers also will want to mark their calendars for a free Nov. 14 performance by Ohio Wesleyan’s Park Avenue Jazz Ensemble and for the 2018 Ohio Wesleyan Middle and High Jazz Festival. 

The Park Avenue Jazz Ensemble is comprised of students, selected by audition, who wish to further their musical experiences through jazz performance and study, said Griffin, a member of the Ohio Wesleyan faculty since 1986. The ensemble functions as a big band and performs at both on- and off-campus events. The group’s Nov. 14 concert will begin at 8 p.m. in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. 

The Ohio Wesleyan Middle and High Jazz Festival will bring students to campus Feb. 17 for a master class with OWU faculty. The festival will conclude with a free community concert at 7 p.m., also in Gray Chapel, featuring the Park Avenue Jazz Ensemble. 

Learn more about Pharez Whitted at www.pharezwhitted.com and more about the Ohio Wesleyan Department of Music at www.owu.edu/music. 

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Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.