The Susan G. Powell auditorium was bursting with excitement Saturday night as performers of all ages were anxiously waiting to take the stage. There were jazz bands from many surrounding middle and high schools who came to perform in the sixth annual UT Jazz Festival, as well as to see the UT Jazz Big Band perform.

There were many people from the UT and Knoxville community who came to see what the jazz festival was.

The jazz festival is an annual event held at UT that celebrates jazz music. In addition, it celebrates those who have a love for the art and gives students from the surrounding areas a chance to play for others while learning more about it.

“Giving middle and high school students a chance to play in front of and along with our college students is a great way to experience what it is like to hear musicians that are not that much older than they are that play at a high level. If they work hard, stay with it, maybe they could do the same,” Keith Brown, senior lecturer and adjunct associate professor of percussion and band director, said.

Thomas Heflin, jazz trumpeter, guest performer and alumnus, was invited to perform at the festival. Heflin, who studied jazz at UT and graduated in 2000, now teaches at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Besides being a UT graduate, Heflin has been hailed, according to jazz writer Scott Yanow, as being a “fluent trumpeter with a bright tone and a forward-looking style,” and has gone on to be featured in several magazines. Heflin has also released three albums, his last one “Live From Austin” in 2011.

For Heflin, being at the festival was like “coming back home.” He was adamant about making sure the kids who came knew that UT was one of the best places to continue not only their educations, but also their love of jazz.

“It’s not something you can just leave. As you can all see, I’m back,” Heflin said.

Heflin and the University of Tennessee Jazz Big Band performed with a variety of classic songs and some more modern pieces, one of which was composed by assistant director of music in jazz saxophone Greg Tardy and called “Mr. Hurt.”

Song after song received a huge response from the audience and a standing ovation as well. Many of the middle and high school students were energetic about the festival before and couldn’t help but clap and cheer along afterwards, not losing their excitement.

“We hope that the exposure to new ideas and advice that they can receive from the faculty and guest clinician will help their band programs, individual skills and enhance their enthusiasm for playing jazz,” Brown said.

Heflin also stressed the importance of not giving up, saying that he was blown away by the level of talent he had heard before the festival during a sampling of the bands earlier that day. Again, Heflin said that UT was the best place for any student to continue learning more about their love and talent for jazz.