The sixth Bloomington Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Festival will begin Aug. 13. Ticketed concerts will premiere Aug. 14 at the Monroe Convention Center Great Room on South College Avenue.
The festival will feature performances by blues, boogie woogie, stride and gospel pianists, Zydeco accordionists, percussionists and professional dancers. Throughout the weekend, the festival will offer both free and ticketed performances as well as free educational workshops and refreshments, according to the Bloomington Boogies website.
The festival will offer two ticketed shows featuring performances by an eclectic mix of musicians at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the Convention Center Great Room. A free performance will be offered in the lobby. Advance tickets are $25, day-of tickets are $30, seniors and students ages 6-17 pay $20 and young children’s tickets cost $10. Tickets are available for purchase on the Buskirk-Chumley Box Office website. The location for Bloomington Boogies After Hours, which will be held that evening, has not yet been determined.
There will be a variety of free festival performances throughout the day on Aug. 13. Three musicians will play at 9 a.m. at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market on North Morton Street.
At 11 a.m., three pianists will perform live at the Monroe County History Center on East Sixth Street. This performance will also be available online and on the radio at WFHB 91.3 FM. At 7:30 p.m., guests aged 21 and above are invited to visit a free performance at Cardinal Spirits on South Morton Street.
Bloomington Boogies, the group that plans the festival, has a public mission to introduce young people to world-class performers and various musical styles through their educational programming, will offer master classes on Aug. 13.
Stride and swing pianist Judy Carmichael will offer a course on the history of jazz piano at 2 p.m. at the Monroe County Convention Center. Intermediate and advanced pianists are invited to play, and observers are invited to watch.
Pianists Paolo Alderighi and Stephanie Trick, both of whom are masters of a variety of piano genres, will offer a course on the different approaches to jazz piano at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Fee Lane. Registration to participate or observe is available at Bloomington Boogies’ website.
A variety of musicians will perform free concerts on Monday for students at Tri-North Middle School, Fairview Elementary, Jackson Creek Middle School and Templeton Elementary. These concerts are available to students, staff and invited guests. Free musical workshops will be offered after the school day at each of the locations, and interested students should register in advance.
Bloomington Boogies, voted a top 10 music festival in the state of Indiana, began in 2015. This year’s festival will be the first since being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More information about the variety of performers, workshops, sponsors and refreshments is available on the Bloomington Boogies website.
