Events

This calendar reflects Earl’s current public work, including select performances, premieres, recordings, and educational engagements.
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2026

• Thu

  15

  Jan

  2026

  US Coast Guard Band - "Jazz Day"

  12:30pm - 1pm

  Leamy Concert Hall, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 15 Mohegan Ave., New London, CT 06320

  Earl will appear as a guest artist with the Guardians Big Band for the U.S. Coast Guard’s “Jazz Day,” a special event that brings together school jazz bands for performances and educational workshops.

• Tue

  03

  Feb

  2026

  UConn Jazz Faculty Quartet

  7:30 PM

  Carmine's Bar • Grill • Stage
  389 Main St, East Hartford, CT 06118
  website: carmines389.com
  Phone: (860) 206-4580

  The UConn Jazz Faculty Quartet brings an evening of straight-ahead jazz to Carmine’s on Tuesday, February 3, from 7:30–8:45 PM. The group—John Mastroianni (alto sax), Earl MacDonald (piano), Steven Bulmer (bass), and Jonathan Barber (drums)—will then host a jam session, serving as the house band until 10:30 PM.

• Thu

  05

  Feb

  2026

  Fri

  06

  Feb

  2026

  UConn High School Jazz Festival

  9 AM - 6 PM

  von der Mehden Recital Hall, 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, CT
  [directions and parking]

  

  The annual UConn Jazz Festival is a non-competitive and educationally-rewarding experience that provides a forum for mutual support of each ensemble’s efforts while enhancing skills in the jazz idiom. Highlights of the festival include:

  • a twenty-minute performance time for each ensemble,
  • a twenty-minute personalized clinic by a UConn Jazz faculty member,
  • beginning, intermediate, and advanced level improvisation master classes, and
  • a mini-concert by the UConn Jazz Ensemble and UConn Jazz faculty.
• Thu

  05

  Mar

  2026

  Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education (MAJE) Judging

  2 - 9pm

  Central District II - Senior District Festival
  Algonquin Regional High School, 79 Bartlett St, Northborough, MA 01532

  Panel with Nate Jorgensen and Jeff Leonard, adjudicating 13 bands.
  Snow date: 3/6 
• Sat

  14

  Mar

  2026

  2026 Clark Terry UNH Jazz Festival - Adjudicator

  7:30 AM - 5:30 PM

  University of New Hampshire, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Music, Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 Academic Way Durham, NH 03824-2617

  
  Earl will serve as an adjudicator at the 2026 Clark Terry UNH Jazz Festival on Saturday, March 14th, 2026. He will provide written and verbal comments and post-performance clinics for participating ensembles.

• Tue

  07

  Apr

  2026

  Jazz & Justice Suite: A Multi-Movement Declaration

  8PM

  von der Mehden Recital Hall, Storrs, CT
  General admission is $15.
  Students, faculty, children and military members with ID are admitted free.

  

  Jazz & Justice Suite: A Multi-Movement Declaration is an original jazz suite composed and performed by UConn Jazz faculty. This powerful artistic statement explores human rights through music, with each movement inspired by an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and honoring a historical figure or movement.

  Through composition, narration, and improvisation, each piece interprets a specific human rights issue—from racial justice and political participation to gender equality, environmental advocacy, and the right to education. This suite responds musically to the call for justice, offering a deeply personal, expressive, and intellectually compelling experience.

  Performing musicians: Earl MacDonald – piano, Leala Cyr – voice, John Mastroianni – saxophones, Louis Hanzlik – trumpet, Evan Gray – trombone, Scott Sasanecki – guitar, Steven Bulmer – string bass, Jonathan Barber – drums.

  Emcee: James Waller, Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice Director, Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs Professor, Literatures, Cultures, & Languages

• Sat

  11

  Apr

  2026

  Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education (MAJE) Judging

  9:20 AM - 2:30 PM

  Jazz Combo Festival
  Wellesley High School, Wellesley, MA

  Panel with Ayn Inserto (Berklee) and Jeffrey Holmes (UMASS), adjudicating 12 jazz combos.

• Sun

  12

  Apr

  2026

  UConn Jazz Lab Band

  3:00 - 4:30 PM

  von der Mehden Recital Hall, Storrs, CT
  
  

  General admission is $10.
  Students, faculty, children and military members with ID are admitted free.

  Earl MacDonald, director

• Sun

  19

  Apr

  2026

  UConn Jazz Combos

  3 PM

  von der Mehden Recital Hall, Storrs, CT
  
  

  General admission is $10.
  Students, faculty, children and military members with ID are admitted free.

  Steven Bulmer, director

• Wed

  22

  Apr

  2026

  Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra @ the Side Door

  7:30 - 10PM

  

  The Side Door Jazz Club | 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT 06371 | tel: 860.434.2600

  The Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra continues its monthly residency at the Side Door Jazz Club, featuring special guest vocalist Leala Cyr.
  All ages welcome.

• Fri

  24

  Apr

  2026

  Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra

  5:30 - 7:30pm

  Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, CT

  

  The Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra performs at a gala event for the commissioning of the USS Idaho.

• Sun

  26

  Apr

  2026

  UConn Jazz Ensemble

  6 PM

  von der Mehden Recital Hall, Storrs, CT
  
  

  General admission is $15.
  Students, faculty, children and military members with ID are admitted free.

  John Mastroianni, director