Juilliard Jazz Ensembles perform the music of Billy Strayhorn on Monday, February 25 at 8 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall

Juilliard Jazz Ensembles perform the music of Billy Strayhorn on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 8 PM in Paul Hall at Juilliard (enter at 144 West 66th Street). Juilliard Jazz students Aaron Kleinstub (trumpet), James Burton (trombone), Eddie Barbash (alto sax), Peter Mazza (guitar), Drew Pierson (piano), Philip Kuehn (bass), and Carmen Intorre (drums) will play Satin Doll, A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, The Flowers Die of Love, Lush Life, and UMMG. Juilliard Jazz students Will Reardon-Anderson (alto sax), Paul Nedzela (baritone sax), Etienne Charles (trumpet), Paul Tarussov (trombone), Tom McEvoy (piano), Ben Williams (bass), and Ryan Hayden (drums) will play Take the A Train, Passion Flower, Charpoy, Main Stem, Johnny Come Lately, and Isfahan.

FREE tickets are available at the Juilliard Box Office, located at 60 Lincoln Center Plaza. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM – 6 PM. The Juilliard Box Office is accessible by elevator, escalator, or stairs located on W. 65th Street near Amsterdam Avenue. For further information, call the Juilliard Box Office at (212) 769-7406 or visit the Web site at www.juilliard.edu.

William Thomas Strayhorn (Billy “Sweet Pea” Strayhorn) was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915. After living in various locations, the Strayhorn family settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From the moment he was tall enough to reach the keys, Billy Strayhorn began playing the piano. He attended Westinghouse High School where he studied under Carl McVicker and other teachers and was the first pianist with the senior orchestra, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto, among other pieces. His father enrolled him in the Pittsburgh Musical Institution, a private music conservatory, where he studied classical music. He performed in the Pittsburgh area with his own band, The Madhatters. In 1938, he met Duke Ellington at the Stanley Theater, where Ellington was performing, and joined Ellington’s band in 1939 at the age of twenty-two. Composer/pianist Billy Strayhorn became essential to Ellington and his band; arranging, composing, sitting-in at the piano. He toured the world with Ellington’s band and for a brief time, lived in Paris. He died of cancer in 1967 at the age of 51.

After Strayhorn’s death, Duke Ellington held a benefit concert to raise money for a scholarship at Juilliard in Strayhorn’s name. The scholarship was established in 1968. Trombonist James Burton, a master of music degree student in Juilliard Jazz (Class of 2009), is this season’s recipient of the scholarship and will be performing on this concert. As holder of the Strayhorn scholarship and in tribute to Billy Strayhorn’s musical legacy, Mr. Burton has arranged Lush Life for the ensemble.

Some of the Ellington Bands most famous compositions – Chelsea Bridge, Day Dream, Johnny Come Lately, Rain-Check, and Clementine - are Strayhorn works. In addition, he composed Take the A Train. Strayhorn collaborated with Ellington on several suites – Deep South Suite (1947), the Shakespearean Suite or Such Sweet Thunder (1957), an arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite (1960), and the Peer Gynt Suite (1962). The Far East Suite was written after the band’s tour of the East, which was sponsored by the State Department.

The 2007-08 season marks the seventh anniversary of Juilliard Jazz, the newest program of performance education inaugurated by Juilliard, midway through its own 102nd season. Its music division, world-renowned for the quality of its performance education and its many celebrated alumni musicians, dancers, and actors, offers bachelor and master of music degrees in jazz, as well as an artist diploma via the pre-professional Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, a collaboration of Juilliard and Jazz at Lincoln Center. All together, it is a curriculum designed to maximize professional opportunities, onstage and academically, with equal opportunity for performance and tailored studio and coursework. Carl Allen was recently appointed Artistic Director of Jazz Studies at Juilliard. 
       
Juilliard Jazz always tours, and this season they travel to Aiken, SC, Ephraim, Utah, and St. Louis, MO, having recently returned from Detroit and their debut appearance at the Detroit Jazz and Heritage Festival. In March 2007, they were in residence in Doha, Qatar for the American Arts Festival. The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and its ensembles have traveled to Costa Rica, Japan, the Festival de Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and made appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and in Craftsbury, Vermont as the Craftsbury Chamber Players. Juilliard Jazz faculty and students have taught and performed at the Snow College Rhythm Section workshop in Ephraim, Utah and the Festival de Jazz in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Juilliard Jazz Ensembles perform regularly at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
       
For more information on Juilliard Jazz, visit the Web site at www.juilliard.edu.