News

April 11, 2024

Loyola Sponsors Stage at French Quarter Fest

NEW ORLEANS – From Loyola University New Orleans:

For the second year in a row, the School of Music and Theatre Professions at Loyola University New Orleans has partnered with the French Quarter Festival to sponsor the Esplanade in the Shade Stage at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint.

The partnership allows a number of Loyola students to perform at the fest, which takes place April 11-14. A number of Loyola students to work behind the scenes at the event as well.

“To be able to offer these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to our students is what our Loyola program is all about,” said Jonathan McHugh, the Hilton-Baldridge Eminent Scholar/Chair in Music Industry Studies at Loyola. “As New Orleans is truly the live music center of the universe, our goal is to make sure students have the chance to perform on as many stages as possible and learn what it takes to put on a festival of this caliber.”

McHugh and Kate Duncan, director of the School of Music and Theatre Professions and the Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Music Industry at Loyola, worked with Emily Madero, president and CEO of French Quarter Festivals Inc., to create the partnership between Loyola and the festival.

“We’re proud of our partnership with Loyola and excited to see this high-impact collaboration expand to feature world-class Loyola talent – both performing on a major festival stage and joining our crew behind the scenes to produce and promote French Quarter Festival 2024,” Madero said.

Duncan said she is excited to work with amazing community partners such as French Quarter Fest that offer unmatched opportunities to Loyola students.

“This collaboration provides students with real world, experiential learning spaces, where they have the opportunity to start their professional lives while still in college with us,” Duncan said. “Students are truly seeing all of the facets and skill sets that need to come together in order to build a life around their creative ideas.”

The Esplanade in the Shade Stage will offer programming Friday through Sunday, with musicians from Loyola performing sets throughout the weekend.