Baldwin City ? The 10th annual Baker University Jazz Festival will be Nov. 15-16, kicking off with a performance by the Baker University Jazz Ensemble, directed by J.D. Parr, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Rice Auditorium.

Guest drummer Tim Froncek, professor of jazz studies at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., will join the Baker Jazz Ensemble. Froncek has performed with Woody Herman, Ray Brown, Randy Brecker, Christian McBride, Bill Watrous and many other jazz celebrities. Froncek is also a visiting artist at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where he performs in the Western Jazz Quartet and can be heard on their three most recent CDs.

On Nov. 16, Froncek and a panel of area jazz educators will judge 16 area school jazz bands from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rice Auditorium. Each band will perform three or four selections for the judges, receive critiques and ratings, and then attend a clinic led by one of the guest artists.

The festival is free and open to the public.