The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Peabody's "Big Band" to Open Jazz Series, Oct. 23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACT ONLY:
Margaret Bell
410-234-4525
m.bell@jhu.edu
Richard Selden
410-234-4526
rselden1@peabody.jhu.edu
 

Two Students Will Sing Standards With Jazz Ensemble

October 20, 2009, Baltimore, MD: The Peabody Jazz Orchestra, directed by Michael Formanek, will open this year’s Peabody Jazz Series with a concert on Friday, Oct. 23. The 7:30 pm concert in Peabody’s East Hall features two student vocalists performing standards by Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and others.

Junior Amanda Bloom and freshman Hannah Elson, both students of Jay Clayton at the Peabody Conservatory, will sing a collection of works from the American songbook, beginning with Night and Day by Cole Porter, written for the 1932 play Gay Divorce. Also on the program are: Antonio Carlos Jobim's Chega de Saudade (No More Blues, 1959), considered the first Bossa Nova song; I Loves You Porgy from George and Ira Gershwin's 1935 opera Porgy and Bess; The Look of Love by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, first heard in the 1967 James Bond film Casino Royale; Straighten Up and Fly Right, Nat King Cole's breakthrough hit of 1943; Thelonious Monk's 1944 jazz classic 'Round Midnight; and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.

The orchestra, Peabody’s “big band,” will also perform two instrumental works. I Remember You, by Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger, was arranged by Bill Holman for the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Bob Mintzer's Joshua, arranged by Victor Feldman, was made famous by trumpeter Miles Davis.
 
Upcoming concerts in the Peabody Jazz Series are: Nov. 6, Peabody Improvisation and Multimedia Ensemble (PIME); Dec. 4, Peabody Latin Jazz Ensemble; Dec. 11, Peabody Jazz Orchestra; Dec. 15, PIME; Mar. 4, PIME; Mar. 5, Peabody Jazz Orchestra; Apr. 16, Peabody Jazz Orchestra; May 6, Peabody Latin Jazz Ensemble; and May 7, PIME. Peabody Jazz concerts take place at 7:30 pm in East Hall, 17 East Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students with ID. Eight-concert subscriptions, called Musical 8’s, are also available. To purchase tickets and subscriptions, call the Peabody Box Office at 410-234-4800.

# # #
 

About the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
Located in the heart of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Cultural District, the Peabody Institute was founded in 1857 as America’s first academy of music by philanthropist George Peabody. Today, Peabody boasts a preeminent faculty, a nurturing, collaborative learning environment, and the academic resources of one of the nation’s leading universities, Johns Hopkins. Through its degree-granting Conservatory and its community-based Preparatory music and dance school, Peabody trains musicians and dancers of every age and at every level, from small children to seasoned professionals, from dedicated amateurs to winners of international competitions. Each year, Peabody stages nearly 100 major concerts and performances, ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz, many of them free — a testament to the vision of George Peabody.