NPTC group of Colleges and Brecon Jazz Festival held another successful Jazz Taster Day and didn’t let the weather dampen their spirits as even more students took part this year.
For the third year running, the Taster Day was a success and as usual, Neath College’s Jazz Ensemble provided the live music for the day, but this time with the addition of hair and make-up from Brecon’s hair and beauty students. Students from Newtown College designed posters to promote the day, as part of their coursework.
Bhaigid Ahmed, foundation art and design student from Newtown College, created a variety of posters to promote the day using his interpretation of Jazz. He said: “It was great to experience the rich culture of Welsh jazz, the posters were inspired by 50’s and 60’s jazz”.
The posters were not only used around Brecon to promote the day leading up to the event, but also displayed on the big screen during the day, for the public to see.
The event gave the hair and beauty students a fantastic opportunity to experience what it would be like to do hair and makeup at big events. Although the students have had the chance to work on clients whilst studying at college, they hadn’t done hair and makeup for multiple people at the same time. The tutors said: “It’s given the students the rare opportunity to experience what it would be like to do hair and makeup for an event like a wedding, which they wouldn’t normally get to experience so early on.”
Neath College’s jazz band were excited as usual to perform their favourite jazz pieces, such as Tequila, which got the whole audience involved. The event pulled in a mixture of people who hadn’t experienced Brecon Jazz Festival previously. Students from jazz musician, Dionne Bennett’s, organisation Tan Cerdd, a not-for-profit organisation set up to raise the profile of Black voices in Wales, came along to have a go at performing live and introduce themselves ahead of the actual festival.
Not only was this a great opportunity for the public to engage with the College, but it also gave students from the different Colleges a chance to work together and get to know each other. The students said they enjoyed getting to know each other and finding out what the different sites are like.
Festival co-organisers Lynne Gornall and Roger Cannon of the BJF2024 planning team said: “We are delighted to have the support from the College once again and enthused by the incredible energy by all involved.” Lynne thanked all involved and said she was “looking forward to more music and fun in August.”
To find out more about tickets for the jazz festival visit the Brecon Jazz Festival page: https://breconjazz.org
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