Hooked by Jazz

As an undergraduate music student in her home state of Utah, and long before becoming a professor at the Lionel Hampton School of Music, Kate Skinner was introduced to the University of Idaho and its music school through the jazz festival.

Skinner grew up in an extended family of musicians who performed music gigs to supplement their incomes, and she was the first in her family to formally study music.

As a college piano student, Skinner visited the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and was immediately hooked.

“I just loved the area and the campus,” Skinner said. “I knew I would come back here someday.”

She wasn’t alone. The university’s jazz festival, an annual rite that began in the 1960s and 40 years ago was named after jazz great Lionel Hampton, has been a conduit that brings students of all stripes to visit and later enroll at the university.

According to a recent survey conducted by Steven Peterson in the U of I Department of Business and Economics, the jazz festival annually recruits about 25 new students to the university.

“Generations of high school students continue their education at U of I due to the great experiences they had from the jazz festival,” said Josh Skinner, who manages the festival.

Only a small fraction of these students follow a music career, music school director Vanessa Sielert said.

“The jazz festival brings in more pre-college students than any other single event on campus,” Sielert said. “A small number of these students will go on to a career in music, but a vast majority will go on to college. That is why we partner with the rest of campus to make the most of this three-day event.”

In addition to recruitment, the festival – in a non-pandemic year – is an economic steamroller.

According to Peterson's survey, this event is responsible for generating more than $9.3 million in gross economic activity, as well as annually supporting more than 120 jobs with average annual salaries and benefits of $39,421. The festival contributes about $209,239 in local property taxes and $438,206 in state taxes.

As a virtual event this year, the festival reached thousands of additional students from around the world.

"The festival is an important outreach to K-12 music educators,” Sielert said. "Through this outreach, we are able to interact with students and establish long-term connections with music educators who, in turn, will consider us when thinking of places to send their students upon graduation.”

As one of the small number of jazz festival students to continue on a career path in music, Skinner went on to earn a doctorate. She was hired five years ago to teach in the U of I’s school of music and now plays an instrumental role in the school and its festival.

“Kate has been an amazing addition to our faculty,” Sielert said. “She brings her expertise in the jazz and commercial styles to our students, is always welcoming and eager to share her knowledge with our students and collaborate with our faculty.”

As a pianist, vocalist and songwriter, Skinner taps her bluegrass and classical roots and ventures into R&B, funk and hip-hop genres. Her compositions and performances have won multiple awards.

A recent composition by Skinner will be featured in this year’s Jazz Education Network, a nationally recognized community of performers and teachers that helps develop and advance jazz through education. Called “If You Look In,” the commissioned work is scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass vocal jazz ensembles.

Because the entire 2021 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival program was virtual, workshops will be online and available to schools for the rest of the school year. Winners will be announced once all results are submitted.