On May 22, at BYU-Idaho, a jazz combo concert was held in the Eliza R. Snow building.

After sleepless nights and calloused fingers, a crowd gathered in the Snow building in a dedication to the arts to attend BYUI's first-ever Spring 2026 Semester jazz combo concert.

Elizabeth Hapworth, a senior studying music, is spending her last semester singing in the BYUI campus jazz combo. At the concert, Hapworth sang what seemed to be melodies from childhood dreams. The assonance of the jazz combo with Hapworth felt like a nursery rhyme, comforting and unlocking the silent rhythms in listeners' hearts. 

Hapworth started at BYUI as a voice major, but later switched to a jazz piano major.

“I started playing piano when I was six," Hapworth said. "I started playing jazz piano my first semester here, when I started as a voice major.”

Hapworth will be graduating as a jazz piano major this semester. It was quite daunting for Hapworth at first to switch majors, but with perseverance, she flourished in playing the piano and singing. "I was pretty scared to do it, but it ended being super fun," Hapworth recalled.

Like Hapworth, a fellow combo member became interested in jazz in high school. Garidon Hendricks, a senior studying business management with a minor in music, also performed in the jazz combo concert.

Students noted that Hendricks appeared to discard conventional notions of musical comfort. Hendrick's experience poured through while his fingers danced across the cello’s neck. It was as if he opened up the gate to a secret garden, letting others get lost in the lucid dreams that Hapworth provided with her voice. 

Fortunately, BYUI’s school system allowed students to “participate in ensembles regardless of what your major is," Hendricks informed. The love of music has guided Hendricks throughout his life. His love for jazz, much like Hapworth's, came from his teenage years.

“I had some friends in the jazz band during my senior year of high school, but I was a classical cellist,” Hendricks remembered.

Being at BYUI has given Hendricks the opportunity to learn how to play jazz. Hendricks plays the bongo, saxophone, piano and cello.

"I started saxophone lessons when I got here, just as non-major lessons." Hendricks discovered that he wanted to explore jazz further by taking jazz piano lessons. 

After a few semesters of daily practice and dedicated rehearsal time, “I have finally gotten good enough that I get to play in the combo," Hendricks noted.

Hendricks emphasized that he has every intention of returning to perform in BYUI's Jazz Combo Concert in the Fall Semester of 2026.

Hapworth and Hendricks took a bow with their fellow members. The evening served as a testament to the powerful connection between the BYUI campus and the local community by bringing together students, faculty and residents.