Bryce Luty Jazz Festival Brings Students and Pros Together at HutchCC

By Sarah Newberry
Staff writer
IG: @luv2dance43

The Bryce Luty Jazz Festival brings students and professional jazz musicians together to create something magical. 

Bryce Luty was quite the person, and honoring him is important, especially to the jazz department at Hutchinson Community College. 

“It’s important to keep his name alive,” said Jack Cassidy, the jazz program coordinator at HutchCC. Bryce Luty was important to HutchCC and helped the college with their jazz program. “He was popular in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s and ran a jazz program at HutchCC.”

The festival can open many doors for students, and is a valuable experience.

“It provides quite a bit of learning opportunities for students, they get a chance to interact and play in front of professional musicians and educators,” said Shane Dawson, the production manager at Stringer Fine Arts Center.

Clinicians come in from all over, and it gives students a chance to grow. Professional musicians come from New York City, Chicago and Wichita.

“It gives students opportunities to work with masters of jazz,” Cassidy said. 

“They have an opportunity to hear the professionals coach them, give them pointers on what they can do to be better as a band,” Dawson said.

The festival is an opportunity for students to meet others in the jazz industry. It inspires students and shapes them into something greater.

“It’s helping and teaching them to be better musicians,” Dawson said. 

Sometimes, a student gets picked by one of the greats to go to the next level in the jazz world.

The festival is on Friday at the Stringer Fine Arts Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for adults, seniors $8, students $5, and HutchCC students and staff are free with a HutchCC ID.

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