By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

The 19th Dominican Republic Jazz Festival will celebrate five nights of free concerts November 4-8 in the towns of Santiago Sosúa, Puerto Plata, and Cabarete.

The event is slated to host Grammy Award-winning artists, and in the past has welcomed award winning musicians such as Ignacio Berroa, Joe Lovano, Chuck Mangione, Ray Baretto, Néstor Torres, Chucho Valdés, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, and Arturo Sandoval, among many others.

This year, the line-up is comprised of musicians from all over the world, including acts from the Dominican Republic itself, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the U.S.A., France, and Israel.

Presented by the Dominican Ministry of Tourism and FEDUJAZZ – an education foundation that provides free music education for the youth of the Dominican Republic – it is the longest-running jazz festival in the Caribbean.

The festival’s organizers have announced that Matt Marvuglio, Dean of Performance Division at Berklee College of Music, and Marco Pignataro, Managing Director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, are joining the event’s Artistic Advisory Board, and will also serve as advisors to FEDUJAZZ.

The festival is free, but VIP tickets are available, providing priority seating, complimentary beverage, and other festival perks, with proceeds benefitting FEDUJAZZ.