Reno Jazz Festival UNR Apr 23–25

The Reno Jazz Festival returns to the University of Nevada, Reno on April 23–25, with three days of student performances, clinics and ticketed evening concerts. (unr.edu) The 2026 festival opens Thursday, April 23, and runs through Saturday, April 25, with events centered on the university’s Church Fine Arts complex and Nightingale Concert Hall. University organizers describe it as a three-day program that brings together professional artists and student musicians in a non-competitive setting. (unr.edu) This year’s headliners are Kris Davis + Manzanita Quintet on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Ben Wendel + University of Nevada, Reno Jazz Lab 1 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. A closing concert and awards program is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. in Nightingale Concert Hall. (unr.edu) The daytime side of the festival is built around clinics, concerts, jam sessions and student performance reviews. Each student ensemble performs for artist educators and gets immediate coaching after a 50-minute review, according to the festival’s description. (unr.edu) That format makes the event different from a standard concert weekend. The University of Nevada, Reno says the festival mixes competitive and non-competitive tracks and is designed for students, directors, educators and general audiences, not only ticket buyers for the evening shows. (unr.edu) The festival also arrives with more than six decades of history behind it. University materials say Reno Jazz Festival began in 1962 and has grown into the oldest educational jazz festival in the western United States, drawing thousands of students and educators over the years. (archive.library.unr.edu) University event listings now describe Reno Jazz Festival as one of the country’s largest and most celebrated festivals for students and jazz listeners. The School of the Arts says the program emphasizes equity, community and the development of living artists alongside student training. (events.unr.edu, unr.edu) Public access extends beyond the main concerts. The festival says both evening jam sessions are free to the public, while daytime events and concerts are sold through single-ticket purchases and in-person will-call at the Church Fine Arts Building box office. (unr.edu, unr.edu) With registration for participating ensembles closed, the week now shifts to audiences and performers arriving on campus for the April 23 opening night. The schedule posted by the university frames the weekend as both a student workshop and a public jazz series. (unr.edu, unr.edu)