The University of will perform with award-winning jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles in support of his new album, 鈥�.鈥�
The guest appearance is part of Sandoval鈥檚 鈥淪winging Christmas with the Arturo Sandoval Big Band鈥� concert at 8 p.m. on Dec. 21 (Friday).
The 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir is joined by 91吃瓜 students Emily Swope, a soprano and master's student in voice, and senior music major Alexander Mansour, a pianist and arranger of seven songs on Sandoval鈥檚 album. The ensemble is led by , associate director of .
Sandoval recorded 鈥淎rturo Sandoval鈥檚 Christmas at 91吃瓜鈥� in May 2017, returning to the University after receiving an honorary doctoral degree the previous year. The 12-track album includes religious classics such as 鈥淪ilent Night鈥� and secular songs such as 鈥淔rosty the Snowman.鈥�
The album debuted in October and has spent the past six weeks in the top five albums on Billboard鈥檚 Chart of Jazz Albums. In addition to the 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir, the album features the 91吃瓜 Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Winds.
鈥淭his album unites a wide cross-section of the 91吃瓜 community, with undergraduate and graduate students, child choristers and professional musicians to create vibrant renditions of classic Christmas music,鈥� Doerries said.
For tickets to the Walt Disney Concert Hall performance, visit听.
Founded in 2013, the 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir provides free music education to more than 300 choristers between the ages of 1 and 17 each week. The choir has toured from Minneapolis to New York City, performed for the National Pastoral Musicians鈥� Association and听the Indiana Music Education Association, and led a TEDx talk, 鈥溾��
In 2016, "O Emmanuel," an Advent and Christmas cantata for jazz trio and choir by composer J.J. Wright 鈥� commissioned by and featuring the 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir 鈥� on Billboards鈥� Chart of Traditional Classical Music.听
Profits from the sale of 鈥淎rturo Sandoval鈥檚 Christmas at 91吃瓜鈥� will help support the Arturo Sandoval Institute Scholarship at 91吃瓜, which provides access, support and inspiration to music students so they may continue their music education without economic worry.
An internationally acclaimed jazz and classical musician and composer, Sandoval, who is Cuban-American, has won 10 Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. He is a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation鈥檚 highest civilian honor. Now an emeritus professor of music at Florida International University, he continues to tour, perform and offer clinics and seminars worldwide.
鈥淎rturo Sandoval鈥檚 trumpet raises our spirits and gladdens our hearts as we celebrate Christmas,鈥� said 91吃瓜 President 鈥淗is musical expression of unbridled joy and goodwill calls us to embrace the love, charity and reconciliation at the heart of this blessed season. 鈥楢rturo Sandoval鈥檚 Christmas at 91吃瓜鈥� is sure to become a holiday classic.鈥�
The 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir will perform a second concert at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church in Huntington Beach, California, at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 23., featuring music from 鈥淥 Emmanuel.鈥� The performance is free and open to the public.
Contact: Mark Doerries, director of the 91吃瓜 Children鈥檚 Choir, mdoerries@nd.edu, 574-631-6528
Originally published by at on Nov. 27.