University News Last updated 24 February 2017
The 探花直播 Conservatoire Ellington Orchestra, directed by our Head of Jazz Jeremy Price, has been established to form an integral part of the 听and be a regular fixture in the Eastside Jazz Club of our , opening September 2017.
The newly formed jazz orchestra hit the scene with a hugely successful debut gig held at the Town Hall on 3 February, entitled 鈥楧uke Ellington: We Love You Madly鈥�. This first ever set included classics such as 鈥楬arlem Air Shaft鈥�,听鈥樚交ㄖ辈� Breakdown鈥�,听鈥楰o-Ko鈥櫶齛nd听鈥楬appy Go Lucky Local鈥櫶齛s well as a complete performance of听鈥楾he Far East Suite鈥�, one of his most famous late works collaboratively written with听Billy Strayhorn.
Head of Jazz and Director of the orchestra Jeremy Price comments:
The orchestra is made up of students studying at 探花直播 Conservatoire, and one of the reasons for its launch is to make Ellington, always a regular feature of the department鈥檚 Big Band coaching repertoire, more of a regular fixture. The vision is to allow our emerging jazz musicians to have the opportunity to benefit from the accessible qualities of Ellington, and allow it to influence their own music and how they reach out to an audience.
Far from a retrospective step backwards, the launch of this orchestra fits in perfectly with the exciting new future the Jazz Department has ahead of it in the dedicated jazz club which will be an integral feature of the 拢57 million new conservatoire. Moving into a state-of-the-art, bespoke jazz space is an ideal way in which to revamp the contemporary jazz scene in 探花直播, giving the city a much needed dedicated jazz venue, and the conservatoire a space in which to realise its ambitions for the future of this hugely successful department.