Next Saturday, March 29, beginning at noon, the streets of Downtown Winston-Salem will be filled with sounds of music, conversation, and exploration as The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) kicks off “Spontaneous Sound: A Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music.” This sonic celebration of creativity and melodic expression features a series of showcases from aspiring to seasoned performers; a Q&A panel featuring current and former members of the Michael Bublé Orchestra; workshops in musical improvisation; and masterclasses for a variety of different instruments.
With performances from local middle and high school students, features from professional musicians to share their music and their wisdom, and an examination of the different genres influenced through improvised music, the program promises an evening of food, fun and appreciation for the art of spontaneous sound.
This year marks the second year of Spontaneous Sound, after its inception by Steve Alford, UNCSA chair of the Jazz and Contemporary Department. Alford has been working for UNCSA since August 2023 and devised the festival with the aspiration of bringing the community together through music. “It’s been my opinion that our social environment has been kind of falling apart of late,” said Alford in an interview with The Chronicle. “We’ve lost the ability to have discourse with people and the idea of having a casual conversation with somebody that maybe has a different perspective than you do or [having] that form of interaction…