Spotlight: SJO eager for ‘Jazz Alley’ in 2012-’13
The Spokane Jazz Orchestra will take us down the “Jazz Alley” in its 2012-’13 concert season.
The orchestra, under the direction of Thomas Molter, will team with renowned soloists for three of the four shows.
First up, singer Tierney Sutton will lend her vocal talents to the orchestra’s performance of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” on Sept. 28.
Sutton, a three-time Grammy nominee, has headlined shows at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Hollywood Bowl.
On Dec. 1, the SJO will perform “A Glenn Miller Christmas,” featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra rendition of “The Nutcracker Suite.”
Deborah Brown will return to Spokane to perform a “Swing Street” concert on March 9. Brown, who has played venues around the world, last performed in Spokane SJO in January.
The season finale on May 11 is called “The Keberle Connection,” and features New York jazz trombonist Ryan Keberle and Spokane trumpeter Dan Keberle, as well as the SJO Young Giants of Jazz Big Band.
Ryan Keberle directs the jazz program at City University’s Hunter College, in New York, when he’s not playing his trombone with the likes of the Saturday Night Live Band, Wynton Marsalis, Alicia Keys, among many, many others.
Dan Keberle, Ryan Keberle’s father, has been the director of jazz studies at Whitworth University for 22 years. He also has performed often with the Spokane and Phoenix symphonies.
All SJO concerts will be at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. July 15 through TicketsWest, (800) 325-SEAT or www.ticketswest.com. Cost is $26.50.
On the air
Beginning July 19, Spokane-area residents will be able to see world-class concert performances from such far-flung places as New York City, Austria and Germany right from their seats at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.
The new HD Thursday series will present concerts via the Specticast Digital Theatre Network. Showtimes will be 1 and 7 p.m. and tickets will be $10.
The lineup features:
• “Aida,” July 19, staged at the Opera Festival St. Margarethen in Austria;
• Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” with the New York Philharmonic, July 26, with Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Craig Bierko and Martha Plimpton;
• Lang Lang at the Mendelssohn Festival, Aug. 2, where Chinese pianist performs the Wedding March from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” among other works;
• An evening with Renée Fleming, Aug. 9, from Waldbuhne Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic, featuring works by Richard Strauss, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Giacomo Puccini and others;
• “La Traviata,” Aug. 15, from the Opera Festival St. Margarethen.
Tickets are on sale through the Fox box office or any TicketsWest location.
Summer in CdA
The Summer Concert Series in Riverstone Park at Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone development returns for another season of musical fun.
Performers will offer a variety of musical styles each Thursday in July and August from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The schedule:
July 5 – The Fat Tones (rhythm & blues)
July 12 – Luke Jaxon Band (country)
July 19 – Kosher Red Hots (Jewish folk music)
July 26 – West Side Cobras (rockabilly)
Aug. 2 – Dead Fiddlers Society (string band)
Aug. 9 – Northpoint (contemporary Jazz)
Aug. 16 – Milonga (Latin)
Aug. 23 – All That Jazz (big band jazz)
Aug. 30 – The Rub (rock ’n’ roll)
Concerts are free and sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Arts and Culture Alliance. Riverstone Park is located at 1805 Tilford Lane.