Thelma presents five music acts from students to professionals for Fond du Lac Jazz Festival

FOND DU LAC — April is Jazz Appreciation Month in Wisconsin, and five music acts will "jam" out at the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts to celebrate.

The annual Fond du Lac Jazz Festival will host both professionals and students starting at 4 p.m. April 20 at the Thelma, 51 Sheboygan St., according to a news release from the center.

The Fond du Lac High School Jazz Band will start the evening off, followed by the Theisen Middle School Jazz Band, both in the center's Great Hall.

The Lighthouse Big Band, Thelma's resident ensemble jazz band, will take the stage at 5:15 p.m. in the Fountain City Ballroom.

The third group is Divas and Jazz, featuring B.D. Greer and other celebrated Wisconsin women jazz singers Kate Voss, Erin Boehme, Lexi Lakmann and Corynn Latta, accompanied by instrumentalists Michael Underwood, Jason Goessl, Jessie Crandall, Kurt Shipe and Mike Kubicki.

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Stephen Cooper and the Nobody Famous will play the final act with vocalist Stephen Cooper and a 10-piece band "boasting more horsepower than a top fuel dragster," according to the news release. Their original music is rooted in jazz, funk, R&B, blues, punk, rockabilly, and rock 'n' roll, inviting audiences to get their feet moving on the dance floor.

Following the main acts, a mix of members from each of the bands will jam together for a bonus improvisational "afterglow."

Admission is free to Thelma members and $20 for non-members, and tickets are available at thelmaarts.org. Several of the center's bars will be open throughout the event.

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Outside the festival, upcoming Lighthouse Big Band performances include April 23, May 14 and May 28.

For more information, visit the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts Facebook page.

Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac Jazz Festival at Thelma kicks off April 20