All Concerts are free and open to the public but ticket reservations are required. Click HERE or on the button to go to the Reservation page. Limit 4 per order.

Known as America’s Big Band, the Jazz Ambassadors are the premier touring jazz orchestra of the United States Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-piece ensemble has received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad performing America’s original art form, jazz.

Performances by the Jazz Ambassadors offer some of the most versatile programming of any big band. Concerts include classic big band standards, instrumental and vocal solo features, patriotic favorites, contemporary jazz works, and original arrangements and compositions by past and present members of the Jazz Ambassadors. Many of these original works are available for free download through Perspectives, a jazz education initiative by the Jazz Ambassadors.

The Jazz Ambassadors have performed in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, and Europe, and in joint concerts with the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and at Carnegie Hall with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. Appearances at international jazz festivals in Montreux, Newport, Toronto, Brussels, and the Netherlands have been met with enthusiastic acclaim, as well as concerts in England, Wales, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Norway.

Pianist, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, Mark Hayes

This extraordinary new multimedia, choral and orchestral event will spotlight the thrilling range of musical achievement by one of America’s most prolific and sought-after composers, arrangers, pianists, and conductors, showcasing a variety of familiar, inspiring choral works and piano solos. Under Mark’s direction, the occasion also celebrates the joint concert debut of the 80-voice East Alabama Civic Chorale and the 30-piece East Alabama Community Band Orchestra on stage at the Opelika Center For The Performing Arts.

The evening will culminate with the Southeastern premiere of The Christmas Truce ~ A Christmas Miracle, a dramatic new choral work by the artistic team that created the statewide tour of We’ll Meet Again. Conceived, written, scored, directed, and produced by Jim Harris, Mark Hayes, Richard Rose, and East Alabama Arts, a cast of actors joins the Chorale and the Orchestra, plumbing new depths of meaning in a moving WWI Belgian battlefield encounter.