OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Arts Center’s presents a weekend of music Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4 in the Lecture Hall, Ocean City Free Public Library, 1735 Simpson Ave. The weekend events are free and open to the public. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, it is a Junior Jazz Battle Royal featuring The Happy Accidentals, (Egg Harbor Township High School) directed by David Craig Milnes and The Deptford Jazz Ensemble, (Deptford High School) directed by Carl Cox.
The Happy Accidentals performed at the recent Berks Jazz Fest in Reading, Pa. The Deptford Jazz Ensemble won Best Jazz Band in their division in 2023’s N.J. Association for Jazz Education’s annual competition.
The concert follows in the tradition of the Battle of the Bands popularized by an early 20th century concert staple where two popular orchestras would try to outperform one another in front of a live audience, like the first time ever Count Basie Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra came together in 1961.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4, the Arts Center is proud to present the folk music and story songwriting of N.J.’s Troubadour, Valerie Vaughn.
Vaughn has a distinguished career performing throughout New Jersey, regionally and at the Kennedy Center. She has shared the stage with legendary Pete Seeger, and spun musical tales in England. Her evocative songs earned the Ocean County Commission’s Special Award and the Pine Barrens Festival Award for preserving “the culture, heritage, and natural beauty” of the Pinelands.
The Arts Center is proud to acknowledge that Vaughn is one of the five South Jersey recipients of New Jersey State Council of the Arts’ inaugural New Jersey Heritage Fellowships.
This program is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
With limited seating, reservations are strongly suggested and can be made online at oceancityartscenter.org or by calling the office at (609) 399-7628.