Celebrating Don McCormack

Saratoga’s Champion of Jazz

If you live in Saratoga and you love jazz, you know Don McCormack. 

Don has played a pivotal role in the flourishing of the Saratoga arts and jazz scene ever since he and his wife Judy moved here in 1970. As Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore College, Don founded the Skidmore Summer Jazz Institute in 1987, which has become one of the premier summer jazz programs in the country, fostering careers of artists such as Jon Batiste, Trombone Shorty, Kendrick Scott, and 2023 MacArthur Fellow Courtney Bryan.

Don is also one of SPAC’s longest-serving board members, so we are thrilled to be honoring him at this year’s 47th Annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival.

As part of our Jazz Fest tribute to Don, we will continue his legacy and arts advocacy by dedicating an annual jazz series at SPAC’s intimate and acoustically exceptional Spa Little Theater. The McCormack Jazz Series will feature unique and diverse jazz artists in the Little Theater each autumn.