“In a Christmas Mood” will feature the UofL Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Ansyn Banks, associate professor of jazz studies, with special performances by the Ladies for Liberty singing troupe and Chad Sloan, assistant professor of voice.
The holiday concert will showcase Christmas music as a tribute to the memory to Glenn Miller and his orchestra. “In a Christmas Mood” will be presented Monday, Dec. 1, at Derby Dinner Playhouse in Clarksville, Ind. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. and the concert beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The recording “In the Christmas Mood” was arranged by retired School of Music jazz professor John La Barbera who has composed music for legendary artists including Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Sammy Davis Jr.
La Barbera’s concept was to create a recording that Miller himself would have made after returning from World War II. It includes big band-style rearrangements of pre-1950s compositions such as “White Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride” and “The Christmas Song.” At the holiday concert additional selections from the Glenn Miller songbook will be performed including “In the Mood,” “String of Pearls” and “Moonlight Serenade.
Tickets are $40 for the concert, dance and dinner. Half of each ticket sale will go toward scholarships for Jazz Studies at the School of Music. For ticket information, call Derby Dinner Playhouse at 812-288-8281.