The Ukiah Symphony Orchestra will present a program anchored by two “orchestral Big Band” works, with the addition of a sprinkling of Big Band Jazz classics and three shorter pieces by Edward Elgar from the dawn of the 20th century.
Performances will be given at Mendocino College on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Music Director and orchestra Conductor Phillip Lenberg will give a pre-concert informative talk in the Center Theater starting one hour before each performance, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Featured piano soloist will be San Francisco’s Allegra Chapman, playing George Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue” with the USO. Chapman is a multi-talented soloist, chamber musician and music festival curator, who is welcomed by the Symphony to its stage for the first time.
She and Lenberg are longtime friends who for years have wanted to find just the right work for a collaboration with the Symphony. As the program for this concert came together, Lenberg realized that the Gershwin piece would fit the bill, especially since Chapman told him she has always wanted to have an opportunity to perform it. The audience will have the chance to hear an arrangement of the work, for a small theater orchestra, that is rarely presented.
About the program itself, Lenberg explains that he wanted to showcase “The Kennedy Dream,” which he calls “art jazz.” The work, written in 1967 in honor of the late President, is by Oliver Edward Nelson, who was active in the ’60s and ’70s and in great demand at that time as a tremendously talented saxophone player, composer and arranger.
It seemed only logical to Lenberg to pair it with “Rhapsody in Blue,” the premiere piece combining classical and jazz styles. Lenberg says he also had the opportunity to put together some good musicians to play a few good Big Band arrangements of some jazz standards. Finally, Lenberg notes the orchestration of the Elgar pieces matches that of the Gershwin, and provides an interesting counterpoint from only 25 years earlier.
Brighten up your “winter blues” with some cool music from the Golden Age of symphonic jazz with the February Ukiah Symphony Orchestra concert. Tickets are available from www.ukiahsymphony.org, or at the door.
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