That s exactly what the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will do when the group comes to La Crosse Wednesday, April 21, as part of the Viterbo College Bright Star Season. Featured in the tribute tour to Ellington, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth, will be the performance of monumental works from the 200,000 pages in the Smithsonian s Duke Ellington Collection, most of which are unpublished. The 17-member orchestra features a wonderfully eclectic roster of musicians under the direction of internationally renowned conductor Loren Schoenberg. The orchestra s repertoire contains music of such jazz greats as Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Dizzie Gillespie to name a few. The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra was founded in 1990 with an appropriation from the U.S. Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American culture and its status as a national treasure.
Tickets are still available for the performance.
For more information, please call the Viterbo College Box Office at 796-3100.