TIFTON — The ABAC Presents! Performing Arts Series will end the season with an evening of jazz on April 17 when trombonist Robert Edwards and vocalist Vanessa Perea perform with the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Jazz Ensemble.

Arts Connection Director Wayne Jones said it is one of the best days of the year for local music lovers, with Edwards and Perea providing a fantastic way to end the day.
“Robert and Vanessa have spent years developing their own unique style,” he said. “This concert is not to be missed.”
Edwards, a West Palm Beach, Fla., native, studied at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts, the University of North Florida, New Jersey City University, and The Juilliard School. He has been a professor of jazz trombone at New Jersey City University and Queens College since 2019. He has five records under his name as a leader and co-leader, and composes, arranges, and sings with his 10-piece band at clubs such as Birdland Jazz Club, the Django, and Swing 46. The Robert Edwards Quintet has performed regularly at the legendary Smalls Jazz Club for the past five years.
Perea is a New York City-based jazz vocalist and recording artist. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from New Jersey City University and has performed with numerous bands throughout New York and New Jersey, in addition to leading her own band in some of New York’s finest jazz clubs.

The performance will cap a busy day for the arts on campus as ABAC’s annual Jazz Festival will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. That event will feature high school bands from across the state as they perform mini concerts on the lawn behind Edwards Hall, located on the southern part of campus.

All ABAC Presents! events begin at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth and can be purchased at www.artsatabac.com/abac-presents. The Jazz Festival event during the day is free to the public and is sponsored by the Department of Fine Arts and the ABAC Arts Connection.

The ABAC Presents! Series showcases performing artists selected to support ABAC and area students’ study of the arts and to present high-quality arts experiences to the community, the college said in a press release.