When the Joye in Aiken Performing Arts Festival kicks off with its Second Annual New Orleans-Style Jazz Funeral Parade on March 5, it may change the way some Aikenites view the city’s unique relationship with The Juilliard School.
Far from being a series of formal black tie concerts, says President Sandra Field, the festival week is meant to be a citywide celebration of Aiken’s tie with that world-renowned conservatory, with events in multiple venues, formats, and genres.
“True, we’ll have classical concerts by Juilliard faculty like Paul Jacobs and by other Juilliard-trained artists like those of Decoda and the St. Lawrence String Quartet,” Field says. “And those concerts will be extraordinary. But we’ll also have lots of events that are meant to be just plain fun, while still involving some of the finest artists in the world. We’re so fortunate to be able to bring talent of this caliber, and we want everyone to be able to celebrate that.”
The Festival, now in its 12th year, will include the return of popular events like The Joye of Jazz and the Swing Dance Party, but will also add new events and artists. One of the most unusual is A Fiddler’s Tale, composed by Wynton Marsalis, Chair of Juilliard’s Jazz Department. “It’s something of a departure for us because of the way it combines music with drama,” Field says. “We’ll have Broadway’s Lion King star Russell Joel Brown doing the narration and playing all the parts. It’s going to be very theatrical. And it has some fun surprises.”
Also on the performance schedule: a recital by Paul Jacobs (the popular chair of Juilliard’s Organ Department), the All-Stars Jazz Concert at Second Baptist, a free concert by Juilliard-trained pianist Peter Dugan and mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, and the Festival Finale Concert, which this year is likely to include everything from jazz to bluegrass. “I can’t overstate how impressive their credentials are,” says Field of the artists who visit for Joye in Aiken. “Two of this year’s artists just won major awards from Lincoln Center; three of our artists were just named co-hosts of a national radio broadcast; one just won a Grammy. Shereen Pimentel, who starred in the Juilliard opera production here last year, has just landed the role of Maria in the new production of West Side Story on Broadway. They’re all at the absolute top of their disciplines, even at this early stage in their careers.” But the Festival isn’t just about the performances, thrilling as those will be. As Field emphasizes, it’s meant to be a chance for the entire community to celebrate Aiken’s unique twelve-year history with The Juilliard School, and each year it includes new ways for residents to do that. “The New Orleans-Style Jazz Funeral Parade was super-popular last year,” Field says, “and this year it will be even bigger and better. In addition, we have the exhibition of Brent Cline’s Joye in Aiken photos at the Aiken Center for the Arts, the return of the Community Fish Fry at Second Baptist, a special Happy Hour Walking Food Tour offered by Aiken Bites and Sites, and free swing dance lessons at the Arts Center for Swing Dance ticket holders.” Aiken’s history with Juilliard dates back to 2008, when the world-renowned conservatory began bringing its students, faculty, and alumni to Aiken to perform for the public and conduct outreach to area students. That relationship has brought important benefits to the city and its residents over the years. In 2019, for example, Juilliard presented the opera Dido and Aeneas in only three cities in the world: London, Versailles, and Aiken. “It’s enabled our community to create the kind of vibrant cultural climate that would normally exist only in much larger cities,” Field says of the tie with Juilliard. “It’s also brought national attention to Aiken. During last year’s Festival, we were invited to address the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC. We were the only local arts organization in the country that was invited to do that.” Joye in Aiken is named for Joye Cottage, the 60-room mansion that hosted the world’s most celebrated artists at its heyday in the Gilded Age. Today Joye in Aiken carries on Aiken’s legacy of welcoming and nurturing the very best in the arts, but with an important difference. Whereas in the earlier times only the privileged few were able to attend the truly world-class performances, the Festival is now open to everyone, with many free and low-cost events. In the name “Joye,” the organization honors Aiken’s historic legacy as a home to, and leader in, the arts. At the same time, the name is meant to suggest the Festival’s joyous and celebratory spirit. As the twelfth Festival opens, there will be joy in abundance as the community comes together to share in a remarkable week. The Festival belongs to everyone. And now everyone can participate in it. The 12th Annual Joye in Aiken Festival and Outreach Program runs March 5 – 13. For information and tickets, visit JoyeInAiken.com.
