Quincy Jones from the Los Angeles Photographic Collection at UCLA Library

2025 Quincy Square Jazz Festival

Ferry over to the Roxy Theatre this month for the inaugural Quincy Square Jazz Festival on February 7. Hosted by Olympic College & the Bremerton-based non-profit Music Discovery Center (MDC), the festival is but part of MDC’s many initiatives to revitalize Kitsap County’s arts & culture scene. The festival will involve 12 Kitsap-based high school and middle school bands who will compete at Olympic College during the day for the Ralph Mutchler Sweepstakes Award. Winners will be showcased at that evening’s gala. Events will also coincide with the groundbreaking of the new Quincy Square in Bremerton, dedicated to the legacy of the late great Quincy Jones. Construction is expected to be completed by this summer. Tickets to the festival can be purchased at musicdiscoverycenter.org.

SRJO Presents Jazz4Kids Matinee, March 1

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) presents Jazz4Kids concerts — free, one-hour matinee performances presented in a world-class concert hall, the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. These concerts are unique events that provide young audiences with an opportunity to hear jazz music performed live, explore musical instruments up close, and interact directly with the artists. SRJO Jazz4Kids concerts include a hands-on “petting zoo” instrument display courtesy of Kennelly Keys Music (in the lobby, beginning at 3pm), instrument demonstrations, and a Q&A with Artistic Director, Michael Brockman. This concert will include pieces selected from the same-day mainstage program, Ray Charles & Quincy Jones on Jackson Street.

Kerry Hall Saved Under New Ownership

In an exciting announcement, Seattle Theatre Group (STG) has acquired ownership of Cornish’s Kerry Hall. STG at Kerry Hall marks an exciting new era for Seattle Theatre Group’s Education & Community Engagement (ECE) programs and the continuation of the building’s legacy in the Seattle arts. “As the proud new owners, STG is committed to honoring this legacy. In addition to being the hub for our ECE programming, we recognize a need for affordable arts spaces in the community and will offer rentals at low cost to local artists and arts groups.” Follow STG on Instagram to keep up with upcoming programs or head to STGPresents.org to learn more.

4Culture Project Grants 

4Culture Project Grants are currently accepting submissions in Arts, Heritage, or Preservation Special projects through March 12. Art Projects are for artists and art groups to create new work and pursue opportunities; Heritage Projects are for individuals or organizations looking to fund documentation, sharing, or interpretation of King County heritage; Preservation Special Projects support the people, supplies, programs, and more that protect our historic places. Grants are available to artists and art groups, residing in King County, who are creating and presenting work in dance, theater, music, media, literature and the visual arts. To learn more about each grant visit 4culture.org/project-grants

NonSeq 2025 Community Curators

Following the incredible work of outgoing 2024 curators – Beth Fleenor, Connie Fu, Kole Galbraith, and Naeim Rahmani – Nonsequitur welcomes their newest cohort of community curators for the 2025 NonSeq concert series: Noel Brass, Jr., Chloe Harris, Chris Icasiano, and Ha-Yang Kim. Each curator will be responsible for putting together three events this year, for a total of twelve performances featuring local and visiting artists. To kick off the new concert season, they will be performing solo sets in a special Curators Concert at the Chapel Performance Space on March 7.

Call for Poetry

April marks both National Jazz Month and National Poetry Month. In honor of the relationship between jazz and poetry, Earshot Jazz is calling for poetry submissions that tells a tale of these two worlds. Selected submissions will run in the April magazine issue. Please send poems to editor@earshot.org.