Gemard Guery, Contributing Photographer

The Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective’s 12th annual jazz festival kicked off on Jan. 23. The festival will continue until the 25th, with Cécile McLorin Sakvant slated to perform at Saturday’s final performance. 

“We aimed to find a balance between showcasing established jazz musicians who bring a wealth of experience to the festival and providing a platform to growing artists for their craft,” said programming director Shaun Pexton.

The festival consists of three separate concerts. The festival’s first two days took place at the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale. 

The first day brought out the Mariel Bildstein Trio. Bildstein’s band has performed at the Lincoln Center, the MET, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Perth International Jazz Festival. 

On Friday, the festival features a performance with Sasha Berliner — a jazz musician and composer who has headlined various festivals in the United States and Canada. She is the first recipient from the United States to receive the LetterOne “Rising Stars” Jazz Award and the youngest winner of the Downbeat Critics’ Poll award in the vibraphone category.

This year marks the first partnership between the YUJC and the Schwarzman Center. The final event and highlight of the festival will be a performance from three-time Grammy winner Salvant held at Commons.

Salvant, who is also a MacArthur Fellow, delivers jazz performances that feature a plethora of different themes ranging from blues, global folk tradition and baroque.  

Choosing the line-up of artists was an incredibly long and thought-out process, said Pexton. According to Thara Joseph ’26, a member of YUJC, the group intentionally chooses artists who are not just musically exceptional but committed to serving and engaging communities. 

 “A key priority was curating a lineup that highlights the rich and diverse traditions of the jazz genre while also keeping up with the exciting ways the art form continues to evolve today,” said Pexton.

According to YUJC co-president Alex Roseman, the festival is a tradition that serves as a way to bridge the gap between Yale students and the New Haven jazz community. For this reason, the festival is free of charge and open to the public. 

“It’s important, I think, to make sure the university isn’t isolated from the city,” said Roseman. And, of course, we want everyone to be able to enjoy high-quality jazz performances.” 

The festival is one of YUJC’s biggest events during the academic year. 

Student leaders began preparing and fundraising for the festival over a year in advance. They frequently met to complete funding applications, find instruments and equipment, reach out to artists, and book venues for the festival.

“The collaborative spirit of our organization, from our core leadership to our newest members, transforms what could be an overwhelming undertaking into a well-orchestrated celebration of jazz that serves both the Yale and New Haven communities,” said Joseph.

Interested students can find tickets for Sasha Berliner’s concert here and register for the waitlist of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s sold-out show here.