Prof. Bernd Ruf and a band from Germany’s University of Music (MHL) joined TNUA students from the Department of Music and IMPACT program to give a jazz concert on October 5 to raise the curtain on the Kuandu Arts Festival.

 

“Let’s Swing! – MHL-TNUA Joint Big Band Concert” presented a memorable night for the audience with about a dozen jazz pieces by Dieter Mack, Jakob Lakner, Hans-Chrstian Stephan, George Gershwin and others.
 

Mr. Stacey Wei, a jazz musician from the National Theater and Concert Hall, also took part in the performance, and conducted some of the pieces of the night. One of the encore pieces that concluded “Let’s Swing” was a jazz version of TNUA’s school song.
 

The concert marked the second visit that Prof. Ruf has made to TNUA since April 2017 when he conducted a “Big Band” workshop in preparation for the “Let’s Swing” joint performance.

Prof. Ruf is a pioneer in promoting crossover between classical and popular music. Over the past three decades he has conducted different forms of performance: symphonic orchestras, chamber music, big bands, musicals, choirs and brass bands. 
 

He has been seeking links between music from different cultural backgrounds, and his collaboration with African, Asian, Latin American and jazz musicians has inspired his unique “crossover symphonies.” 
 

In 2008, Prof. Ruf founded the MHL Big Band, which has since become one of the top jazz bands in Germany. In 2014, the band had a tour in California, performing in San Diego, Fullerton and San Francisco. In the same year, it released its first album, “Timeless Changes – Lubeck Sounds,” winning plaudits from the American audiences and jazz musicians such as Jim Linahon, Bill Cunliffeand Bill Yaeger.    
 

Caption: Prof. Bernd Ruf (front, left) poses for a picture with MHL and TNUA musicians before the start of their joint jazz concert to raise the curtain on the Kuandu Arts Festival.