Bienen School Jazz Events Swing into Spring

EVANSTON, Ill. --- New interpretations of music by jazz great Cedar Walton and ragtime legends Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb and James Scott, and a performance of original works written by talented jazz studies students, are part of Northwestern University’s spring jazz season.

Presented by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the programs will feature performances by the Jazz Small Ensembles, Victor Goines and jazz studies students and the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra.

The following concerts will be held on the University’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, and Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive, as noted.

• The Jazz Small Ensembles will present “Firm Roots: The Music of Cedar Walton” under the direction of jazz faculty members Victor Goines and Marlene Rosenberg at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 27 at Regenstein Hall. Walton, a pianist, composer and bandleader, was a major force on the jazz scene for more than half a century and penned some of the most beautiful and complex compositions in the jazz canon. In this performance, jazz students will share their new interpretations of “Firm Roots,” “Bolivia,” “Sixth Avenue” and other Walton classics. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Victor Goines and jazz students will be featured in “The Roots of Ragtime” program at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 4, at Regenstein Recital Hall. Goines, who is the director of the Bienen School’s jazz studies program, also is a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet. Goines performs with his quartet in concerts and recitals around the globe. With the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra he has collaborated with Bobby McFerrin, Garth Fagan Dance, Alvin Ailey Dance, the New York City Ballet, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and many others. Ragtime is a musical genre that reached its peak in popularity between 1895 and 1918. This concert will feature new arrangements of works by ragtime’s “big three”: Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb and James Scott. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

•  New student works will be highlighted during the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra’s “New Orchestral Jazz Sounds” concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Conducted by Victor Goines, jazz students will perform their original compositions and arrangements. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• The Jazz Small Ensembles, featured in “Composition 703: Student Originals” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 1, at Regenstein Recital Hall, will be directed by Victor Goines and Marlene Rosenberg. In their final concert of the 2014-15 academic year, Northwestern jazz students will demonstrate their creativity and originality via their own compositions. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

For more information, call the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847- 491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets, call the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.

For information on the Bienen School’s Jazz Studies Program, visit  www.music.northwestern.edu/academics/areas-of-study/jazz-studies.html.

ARTS CIRCLE DRIVE 

Northwestern’s Arts Circle Drive has reopened for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The road, drive-up handicap access to Arts Circle Drive venues, the pedestrian path at the lakefront and all sidewalks are now open for public use. New improvements to the South Beach Garage have also eliminated the need to use the stairways since both levels of the two-story parking structure are now accessible to persons with disabilities for easy access to Bienen School of Music venues. Additional parking is also available in the new Segal Visitors Center at 1841 Sheridan Road. For more information, call 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.