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Rochester jazz festival suspends ticket sales while evaluating coronavirus situation

Tomas Flint
Credit Tomas Flint

Citing the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival announced Wednesday that it is suspending ticket sales for Club Passes and the headliner shows at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.

The festival, which runs from June 19 through June 27 in and around Rochester’s East End District, is not being canceled, producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona said in an email announcing the halt in ticket sales. They wrote in the statement that they are evaluating the situation, which includes federal and state guidelines, and will announce the festival’s status on or before May 10.

The complete lineup was announced Tuesday morning. Details can be found at rochesterjazz.com.

England’s prestigious Glastonbury festival also announced its lineup on Tuesday, with performers such as Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar. But on Wednesday, the event, scheduled to run June 24-28, reversed course, and announced it has been canceled as a result of the pandemic.

Jeff Spevak is WXXI’s Arts & Life editor and reporter. He can be reached at jspevak@wxxi.org.

Copyright 2020 WXXI News

Jeff Spevak has been a Rochester arts reporter for nearly three decades, with seven first-place finishes in the Associated Press New York State Features Writing Awards while working for the Democrat and Chronicle. He has also been published in Musician and High Times magazines, contributed to WXXI, City newspaper and Post magazine, and occasionally performs spoken-word pieces around town. Some of his haikus written during the Rochester jazz festival were self-published in a book of sketches done by Scott Regan, the host of WRUR’s Open Tunings show. Spevak founded an award-winning barbecue team, The Smokin’ Dopes, and believes Bigfoot is real. His book on the life of a Lake Ontario sailor who survived the sinking of his ship during World War II will be published in April of 2019 by Lyons Press.