Billy Strayhorn News

First Run Features is pleased to announce that Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the Peoplewill open at the Quad Cinema in New York on March 1 and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Theaters on March 8 after sold out festival screenings in New York, Washington and across the country. At a time of daily attacks on the news media with claims of fake news; and at a time when journalism is being suppressed around the world, Joseph Pulitzer's words and his story resonate more deeply than ever.

The John F. Kennedy Center announces the full lineup for DIRECT CURRENT, its two-week celebration of contemporary culture, which returns for a second season this spring (March 24-April 7).

Composer, arranger, and conductor, David Berger, is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 750 full scores of classic recordings, including more than 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Several of these transcriptions in addition to a number of original arrangements are featured in last season's Broadway hit, After Midnight.

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) presents Les Delices in their new program, Songs Without Words, in two concerts:

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

Jacob's Pillow announces the full season lineup of Festival 2019 including world premieres, new commissions, international artists, anniversary celebrations, Pillow-exclusive engagements, and work developed at the Pillow Lab. Entering its 87th consecutive summer, Jacob's Pillow is home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and has steadily expanded its reach in the field and its local community as a year-round center for dance research and development. Festival 2019 opens June 19, attracting audiences both on and off its site in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, through August 25.

Classical, jazz and dance combine when the Music Institute of Chicago collaborates with Dance Chicago to present a family concert, "Duke It Out!," Today, December 8 at 2 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston.

Pacific Symphony's initial December concert hints at holiday celebrations to come with a program entitled Holiday Classics: Nutcracker Sweet, (Dec. 6, 7 and 8). Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 with Markus Groh as soloist opens the program. The rest of the program includes Vaughan Williams' majestic work for string orchestra, 'Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis' and selections from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker alongside arrangements of Tchaikovsky's music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. These concerts include image magnification for audiences to get a closer look at the music making projected onto big screens in the concert hall. Concerts begin at 8 p.m., with a preview talk hosted by Alan Chapman at 7 p.m. This program, sponsored by Michelle F. Rohe Distinguished Piano Fund, is presented by the Hal & Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, The Westin South Coast Plaza Costa Meza, PBS SoCal and Classical KUSC. Tickets start at $25. For more information or to purchase tickets call the box office at (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

The JAM Orchestra proudly presents their inaugural concert Holiday Swing! An exciting new ensemble, the JAM Orchestra's concert takes play on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave. Concert begins at 7:30 PM.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 will present VIVIAN REED in an encore performance of her centennial tribute to entertainment icon Lena Horne on Today, October 20 at 7:00 PM. The evening is back by popular demand after the first show at the venue on Horne's birthday this summer. 

Classical, jazz and dance combine when the Music Institute of Chicago collaborates with Dance Chicago to present a family concert, "Duke It Out!," Saturday, December 8 at 2 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 will present VIVIAN REED in an encore performance of her centennial tribute to entertainment icon Lena Horne on Saturday, October 20 at 7:00 PM. The evening is back by popular demand after the first show at the venue on Horne's birthday this summer. 

The American Songbook Association just presented its first Annual Gala, The Joint Is Jumpin'!, a joyous celebration of contributions to the American Songbook by Black songwriters and notable singers. The ASA also presented its first annual Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Marilyn Maye, presented by her longtime friend, fashion designer, Bob Mackie.

The American Songbook Association just presented its first Annual Gala, The Joint Is Jumpin'!, a joyous celebration of contributions to the American Songbook by Black songwriters and notable singers. The ASA also presented its first annual Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Marilyn Maye, presented by her longtime friend, fashion designer, Bob Mackie. 

DIRECT CURRENT, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's two-week celebration of contemporary culture, returns for a second season. Training its focus on new works, interdisciplinary creations in which artistic worlds collide, and creative responses to topical concerns, the 2019 spring immersion showcases some of the most provocative, original, and pioneering voices in the arts today. DIRECT CURRENT takes place on March 25-April 7 at the Kennedy Center and beyond, extending throughout the District of Columbia through collaborations with a number of alternative venues, to expand the growing audience for contemporary culture in the nation's capital.

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, is pleased to present the World Premiere of Herb Alpert Award-winning choreographer David Rousseve's newest work, Halfway to Dawn, Thursday, October 4 to Sunday, October 7, 2018.

The American Songbook Association (ASA) is proud to present its first Annual Gala, The Joint Is Jumpin'!, a joyous celebration of contributions to the American Songbook by Black songwriters and notable singers. The ASA will also present its first annual Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Marilyn Maye. The award will be presented to Maye by her longtime friend, fashion designer, Bob Mackie. The event takes place at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd Street, New York City, on September 17, 2018 at 7:30 PM. Tickets, available by going to www.americansongbookassociation.org, are $150, $125 and $45.

The American Songbook Association (ASA) has announced its first Annual Gala, The Joint Is Jumpin'!, a joyous celebration of contributions to the American Songbook by Black songwriters and notable singers. The ASA will also present its first annual Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Marilyn Maye. The award will be presented to Maye by her longtime friend, fashion designer, Bob Mackie. The event takes place at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd Street, New York City, on September 17, 2018 at 7:30 PM. Tickets, available by going to www.americansongbookassociation.org, are $150, $125 and $45.

The Public Theater has announced the Public Forum and Public Shakespeare Initiative fall line-up that will explore the intersection of art, ideas, and action. Highlights of the upcoming season include the return of the monthly Civic Salon gatherings and Election Night Hootenanny, a closer look at Shakespeare's famous tyrants and the Mobile Unit's A Midsummer Night's Dream, our post-show Speaker Series following performances of Eve's Song and Wild Goose Dreams, and a collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center on the intersection of Shakespeare and the work of Duke Ellington.

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, is pleased to present the World Premiere of Herb Alpert Award-winning choreographer David Rousseve's newest work, Halfway to Dawn, for four performances from Thursday, October 4 through Sunday, October 7, 2018. Written, choreographed and directed by Rousseve, this vibrant dance-theatre work will be performed by his wildly diverse nine-member company REALITY. Halfway to Dawn illuminates the story of African American jazz composer Billy "Sweet Pea" Strayhorn. Relatively unknown, Strayhorn was Duke Ellington's main arranger/writing partner, instrumental to the creation of a vastly important body of work in American music history. Gay, out, and living in Harlem in the 1940's-60's, Strayhorn chose to lead a remarkably private life, allowing Ellington to take the spotlight and much of the credit for their joint oeuvre. The arranger/composer was also a passionate activist involved in civil rights causes (and a committed friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.). The core of Halfway to Dawn is Strayhorn's music as interpreted through a dynamic dance vocabulary melding jazz, modern/postmodern, and social dance forms. A surreal sonic design by d. Sabela grimes surrounds vintage recordings of Strayhorn's songs, while video art by Cari Ann Shim Sham* gives the production a rich visual dynamic. For more information on the work, please visit https://www.davidrousseve.com/halfwaytodawn.