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HFCC Big Band performed at Ford Detroit Jazz Festival

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The Henry Ford Community College Big Band played at the Ford Detroit Jazz Festival in Hart Plaza in Detroit on Sunday, Sept. 5 on the main stage.  The band played a 45-minute set, centered around music from Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich and other jazz favorites from the big band era.

Henry Ford Big Band is the only band, professional or amateur, to perform at this prestigious Labor Day festival for 21 consecutive years.  

'The Ford Detroit Jazz Festival has become a ritual for us,' said Rick Goward of Dearborn, Henry Ford Big Band Director and associate dean of the HFCC Fine Arts and Fitness Division.  'It's a great way to kick off the college year.' 

The Henry Ford Big Band has performed in more than 750 concerts, dances, and conventions since 1983, including prestigious concert appearances at the 2001 Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. and Carnegie Hall, New York (1992 and 1989). 

This is Goward's 21st year as HFCC's director of bands, and his sixth year as associate dean of the Fine Arts and Fitness Division. 

For more information on the Henry Ford Big Band, please contact Rick Goward at 313-845-6470 or email rgoward@hfcc.edu.  For more information about HFCC, log onto https://www.hfcc.edu/.