Sutton Jazz Festival

President's Word

In 2026, Sutton Jazz celebrated 25 years of music, community, and a passion for jazz. Since its founding in 2001, our festival has grown alongside Sutton, brought to life by exceptional artists, dedicated volunteers, loyal partners, and an audience that returns year after year.

Sutton Jazz has continuously evolved over the years. Switching to free, outdoor concerts completely transformed the festival, by making professional jazz accessible to everyone and bringing the music right into the heart of our village. Today, our concerts fill Sutton's parks, vineyards, restaurants, and public spaces, creating bonds between artists, residents, and visitors.

At the dawn of a new chapter, we want to go even further. Supporting emerging talent, nurturing a love for jazz, reaching new audiences, strengthening our community collaborations, and continuing to provide artists with professional performance opportunities are at the very heart of our vision for the coming years. We also aim to solidify our organization so that Sutton Jazz can pursue its mission and keep fully contributing to the cultural vitality of our region.

These 25 years would not have been possible without you. Your presence, enthusiasm, donations, and loyalty are what allow us to keep the spirit of jazz alive right here in our community.

Thank you for being part of this story — and most of all, for what comes next!

Claude Prud’homme
President, Sutton Jazz

Our mission

Since 2001, Sutton Jazz has brought a unique energy to its community. This non-profit organization champions emerging and professional artists through a 100% free program. Set in the bucolic setting of this beautiful small town and its agritourism stops, the festival unites audiences and musicians to forge lasting connections and make music resonate at the very heart of our region.

History

The Sutton Jazz Festival was born in 2001 thanks to the efforts of Stanley Lake and Vicki Tansey. Stanley Lake went on to become the festival's artistic director and main organizer. For the first three years, the festival presented four or five concerts in winter. The basic idea was to give excellent local musicians the chance to perform, and to develop a jazz audience in Sutton. Given the interest shown by the public, the experiment was repeated in subsequent years.

Then, in 2005, the Salle Alec et Gérard Pelletier opened its doors, and from autumn onwards, the festival presented its concerts there on Fridays and Saturdays. This partnership lasted until 2020, when the pandemic forced the closure of the concert halls.

In 2008, the festival officially became a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of jazz in the region. This made it possible to apply for grants and sponsorships from Heritage Canada, the Brome-Missisquoi MRC, the Town of Sutton and other local companies. Thanks to these new sources of funding, the festival will increasingly invite leading figures from the Montreal jazz scene.

Gradually, concerts will be presented in the street, notably with the Homebrew Dixieland Band. In its tenth year, restaurant concerts will be added.

In 2020, due to the pandemic, the festival moves outdoors. And following the government directive to authorize outdoor gatherings of 250 people or less, the festival pulls out all the stops to organize, on three weeks' notice, a nineteenth season in John-Sleeth Park. This new formula was an unhoped-for success from the very first concert, attracting over 1,500 music lovers over the course of the season.

During the festivities surrounding its 20th anniversary in 2021, a new feature is introduced: jazz workshops for young people. With the same sanitary conditions, the festival's program of 20 free open-air concerts attracts many music lovers every Saturday.

These days, we present around 90 concerts a year showcasing jazz musicians from across Quebec as well as from the Sutton region, including: Roberto Murray, Dave Turner, Rémi Bolduc, Alex Côté, Jean Derome, Mathieu Bélanger on saxophone. On trumpet: Kevin Dean, Marc Bolduc, Ron Di Lauro, Aron Doyle, Jacques Kuba Séguin. On marimba and vibraphone: Jean Vanasse and Kevin Sullivan. Singers: Vivienne Deane, Ranee Lee, Karen Young, Dawn Tyler Watson and Almut Ellinghaus. Bassists: Frédéric Alarie, Normand Guilbeault, Michel Donato and Alex Bellegarde. Several pianists including : Taurey Butler, Lorraine Desmarais, Marianne Trudel, Felix Stüssi, François Bourassa, Michel Pilc and Yves Léveillé. On guitar: Sylvain Provost, Claude Prud'homme, Nelson Symonds. And finally, several ensembles, including : Jazz Lab, Trio LML, Christine Tassan's Imposte