The Hope College Great Performance Series will conclude its 2022-23 season with the Camille Thurman Quintet, a rising jazz star, on Friday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Knickerbocker Theatre.
The New York Times has said, “You're hard pressed to find rising talents more exciting than Camille Thurman whose sound is as commodious and strong as Hank Mobley’s.”
Fluid and powerful on the tenor saxophone and highly inventive as a vocalist, Thurman also plays bass clarinet, flute and piccolo. Her rich sax sound has been compared to Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon, while her vocal approach — including an impressive scatting ability — has been classified alongside those of Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter. Jazz legend Al Jarreau once said, “I’m scared of this lady’s scatting!” As for her playing, All About Jazz has called her “a first-class saxophonist that blows the proverbial roof off the place.”
The New York City native has already amassed several distinctive honors for her musicianship: runner up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, two-time winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award and a winner of the Fulbright Scholars Cultural Ambassador Grant, The Chamber Music of America Performance Plus Grant (Sponsored by the Dorris Duke Charitable Foundation) and the Jazz Coalition Composers Grant, among others. Thurman also has four full-length recordings as a leader to her credit.
Her compositions were featured and performed by her quartet in the ASCAP/The Kennedy Center “Songwriters: The Next Generation” showcase as well as the Greenwich School of Music “Uncharted” Series. Thurman has appeared on BET’s “Black Girls Rock” as the saxophonist and flutist in the All-Star Band. Equally adept as a player and a singer, and recognized for her compositional abilities as well, Thurman has also earned accolades from the media, from Jazz Times to Downbeat, All About Jazz to the New York Times, NPR to Sirius XM Satellite Radio, BET to Jazz Night In America.
Tickets are $26 for regular admission, $22 for senior citizens, and $7 for children 18 and under, and are available at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The office is open for ticket sales on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at 616-395-7890. Tickets may also be purchased online at hope.edu/tickets
Audience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. 8th St. in downtown Holland.