School of Music to kick off holiday season with dinner and dancing
NULL November 3, 2014LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville School of Music is ushering in the holidays with a big band-style concert and dinner dance.
“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.”
Erica Walsh is the marketing director for the Office of Communications and Marketing. Her job lets her share UofL’s good news in all avenues of communications including publications, advertising, content marketing and branding. Walsh joined UofL in 2014 after previously serving as the public relations specialist at Indiana University Southeast. Prior to her career in higher education communications she was an award-winning newspaper reporter. Red is one of her favorite colors and it’s a good thing, too, because she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Western Kentucky University and her master’s in communication from UofL.