NIU Jazz Ensemble, Victor Lewis to perform on Sunday, April 15 at the Sheldon

The Northern Illinois University (NIU) Jazz Ensemble will perform in concert with special guest drummer Victor Lewis at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The NIU Ensemble is led by the noted jazz educator and saxophonist Ron Carter, who spent nearly 20 years teaching music in this area before accepting the job of director of jazz studies at NIU.

The concert at the Sheldon will also feature jazz ensembles from SIUE, led by Rick Haydon, and East St. Louis High School, led by Delano Redman. Carter and the NIU students will conduct workshops with students from both of those schools and students from University City throughout the following day.

Active on the national jazz scene since the late 1970s, Lewis has played with a number of well-known musicians, including St. Louis' own David Sanborn, Woody Shaw, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer, J.J. Johnson, Mike Stern, John Stubblefield, Grover Washington Jr., Manhattan Jazz Quintet, Bobby Hutcherson, Bobby Watson, and Kenny Barron. In 2003, he joined the faculty of Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he teaches drummers and coaches jazz combos.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for students, and will be available at the door, beginning one hour before the concert.