March typically brings the Joye in Aiken festival.
This year, organizers have taken a different scheduling approach and won’t pack all of the musical events and educational outreaches into one week, according to Janice Jennings, executive director.
“We’re spreading our events out from March to June because of the virus, so we could reschedule things as we go along,” she said.
Joye in Aiken began in 2008 with a partnership with the Juilliard School. The prestigious school’s name was part of the festival name at the beginning. The event brought musicians, actors and dancers from the institution to perform in and around Aiken.
Over the years, the name has changed, but many of the performers have had ties to the famed school. The festival’s current name came from the home of two of its founding members. Joye Cottage is a 60-room home Aiken that was restored by Pulitzer Prize winner authors Gregory White Smith and Steven Naifeh.
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Since its inception, more than 500 musicians, actors and dancers have taken part in the March festival, according to the Joye in Aiken website. The outreaches have impacted more than 35,000 schoolchildren.
So far, a couple of the events have been changed. The Anderson and Roe Piano Duo, one of Joye In Aiken’s most popular acts, has been rescheduled for 2022, she said.
The remaining events are scheduled to be held outside.
Time for Three will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 22 on the lawn of the Green Boundary Club on Whiskey Road. The rain date is May 23. Tickets are $50 per person, and are available by calling (803) 641-3305.
The Joye of Jazz will feature performances by clarinetist Evan Christopher, who plays in a traditional New Orleans style, in the afternoon. Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and his band will play during the evening. The concerts will be held under a tent at the Willcox Inn from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, June 6. The afternoon pass is $125; the evening pass is $150; or the all day pass is $250.
A jazz camp featuring Wycliffe Gordon as an instructor is scheduled for June, but Jennings said there are limited slots. She expects them to fill quickly.
The educational outreach has continued just in a different way.
“We normally do a live outreach with students, but so many of them are not in class,” she said. “We changed it to virtual.”
Events for students included the Kidz Bop and Young People’s concerts, which have been cancelled this year.
To learn more about Joye in Aiken, visit joyeinaiken.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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