Harvard Jazz Band Will Tour Dominican Republic in March

The Harvard University Jazz Band will tour the Dominican Republic over Spring break to raise money for the American Field Service (AFS), a non-profit international exchange organization, Thomas G. Everett, the band's director, said yesterday.

Everett added that AFS will pay for most of the trip, financing students' plane fares and arranging for free room and board in Dominican Republic hotels.

The nine-year old band, which traveled to the Dominican Republic in 1974 in a similar tour for the Association for Blind Children, hopes to raise approximately $10,000 for AFS, Everett said.

Juan Liado, chairman of AFS's Dominican Republic chapter and coordinator of the 1974 visit, invited the band to return because of the first tour's success. AFS officials in New York were not available for comment.

"AFS should make a substantial profit on the trip," Everett said, adding, "It's pretty unique to pull down a college group from another country to help a local cause."

The band will perform in La Romans, Santiago, and at the National Theatre in Santo Domingo between March 21 and 29.

The National Theatre did not invite the band to perform during its 1974 tour because the theatre normally features only classical music. But the good reviews the band drew from the last tour prompted the theatre to invite the group this time, Everett said. He added, "The National Theatre is equivalent to our Symphony Hall."

Band members will also sightsee, spend a day at the beach, dine at the American Embassy, and talk with other jazz students at the University of Santiago. "It will be a good vacation," said Donald H. Perlo '83, a saxophonist.