The stage at Peebles Theatre will come alive on April 14 for the annual Jazz4Justice concert.
This special event will bring alumni musicians back to campus to perform with current students in the CNU Jazz Ensemble, raising awareness and financial support for the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia.
The concert, titled “Homegrown,” will showcase CNU-created musical talent past and present. Fifteen musical Captains for Life are returning this year to perform, enough to form an alumni jazz big band.
It is CNU’s 10th annual Jazz4Justice event.
“It is going to be a memorable event and an incredible show,” said Dr. Kelly Rossum, director of Jazz Studies at CNU. “This is our community and we need to invest in it and this is a great way to do that.”
The concert is sponsored by several local law firms and will not only raise money for the Legal Aid Society, but also provide dedicated scholarship and program support for the CNU Jazz Program. The Legal Aid Society provides free legal assistance to low-income households in Hampton Roads.
Rossum wanted this year’s event - which is also the Jazz Ensemble‘s culminating concert - to bring graduates and current students together on stage to add depth, history, and perspective to the show. He tapped CNU grads who live locally and are employed in an array of fields, but share a love of jazz and the musical training they received at Christopher Newport.
“We have so much talent right here. We want to show it off,” Rossum said.
There will be two sets of music - 14 songs in total - performed, and each set will be 45 minutes in length. Two guest singers - Douglas Carpenter and Kensie Butler - will also be featured. In addition, jazz students from Soundscapes, a local nonprofit that provides young local musicians with musical education and performance experience, will perform before the concert.
“We are very excited about seeing this all come together,” Rossum said. “It’s always a great event with such important layers.”
Jazz4Justice is a national program that was the brainchild of attorney Ed Weiner more than 20 years ago. Weiner combined his love of jazz and legal justice to initiate the first Jazz4Justice at George Mason University. Since then, more than 60 concerts have been performed nationwide and more than $600,000 raised for pro-bono legal services, jazz programs, and music scholarships.
Rossum is excited to bring the community together to help a worthy organization while also shining the spotlight on the strength of CNU’s Jazz Studies program.
“This is exactly what we as a University should be doing in terms of community engagement,” Rossum said. “It is the right thing to do.”
Want to go?
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Where: Peebles Theatre, Ferguson Center for the Arts
Cost: $20 general admission, $10 for students
Tickets available at the Ferguson Center Ticket Office or at Fergusoncenter.org