Kingston, Rio de Janeiro-December 1, 2021-Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" has a Christmas atmosphere like candy canes, decorated halls and snowy eves. Fairy tale ballet and its iconic soundtrack have long been the theme of the holiday.

However, the Symphony Orchestra and the Big Band of the University of Rhode Island will collaborate on Saturday, December 4th at the Music Hall of the Art Center 105 at the University to bring a rare version of the "Nutcracker" duel to the concert audience. It will be on the Kingston campus. . The symphony orchestra will start with four pieces from Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece, and then the big band will use five pieces from Duke Ellington and Bill Streihorn’s 1960 jazz treatment of the suite. The song is jazzed.

"We really hope this is a different type of holiday concert," said Emmet Goodes, director of the big band. "It would be great if I could play "Frozen" and "Jingle Bells" and tell everyone to sing together. But this is an opportunity to showcase two masterpieces that are absolutely relevant to this season. It is extremely for our students. Challenging."

"This rarely happens," added Symphony Orchestra director Ann Dennis. "It should be unbelievable to have the opportunity to hear a full orchestra and a jazz band playing the same music."

Although concert audiences may hum along with the entire action of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker", Ellington's reimagining is little known outside of jazz lovers. But in the past few decades, jazz scores were first published in 2010 and became more popular as festival performances.

The first time I heard it was in the late 1980s or early 1990s. He said: "I remember hearing it when I was in middle school. I was a little unfamiliar with being a musician at the time. I was just shocked." "I know the Nutcracker. My school took us to downtown Pittsburgh. Watching ballet. But it’s great to hear it as jazz."

Ellington was the pianist, composer, and leader of one of the most influential big bands in the 1930s and 1940s. After seeing his band’s popularity diminish and rebound in the 1950s, he re-created in 1960 Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker". While composing dozens of jazz songs, he is also a writer who conforms to classical composers.

Goods said: "When people come to Ellington, they expect this to be a kind of elegant art." "He thinks like all the great composers in the Western tradition, but he uses African music, which is American music. It’s jazz. Then when he enters the "Nutcracker Suite", it’s the perfect combination. It’s not just about him making the most of jazz and saying it’s a suite. It’s about choosing a real suite and making it jazz . This is the genius of the moment."

Goodes said that academic research on Ellington's collection of the 1990s showed that Duke's long-time collaborator Strehhorn wrote most of the songs in the 1960 album. The original album cover, one of the pictures included in the concert program, including thanks to Strayhorn for his contribution, his name is located between Ellington and Tchaikovsky.

"That was probably the only time Billy got praise. It was so important to Duke that he asked the record company to list these three names," said Goodes, who will provide the history and significance of The Nutcracker. . Two performances.

On Saturday, the orchestra will play some of the most popular songs from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker"-"March", "Dance of Reeds", "Dance of Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Trepak" . The Big Band will perform corresponding jazz versions-"Toot Toot Tootie Toot", "Peanut Brittle Brigade", "Sugar Rum Cherry" and "Volga Vouty" (and the iconic "Overture").

"You will feel the difference because you will hear the orchestra playing and they will play as you expected," Goods said. "The Duke of Ellington and Billy Strayhorn used these materials and kept the melody unchanged, and then put them in jazz. What really makes the jazz version work is that you can sing the melody. It Very suitable. This is the genius of Billy Streihorn."

When playing Tchaikovsky, the 52-person orchestra will include 16 musicians from the Warwick Symphony Orchestra, including its music director Catherine Gagnon, who is a member of the URI Symphony Orchestra. Regulars. Danis said that although the "Nutcracker" is a ubiquitous holiday classic, it does not mean that it is an easy task for orchestras.

"The students have listened to it but haven't played it before, so this is a big piece of music to learn," she said. "Tchaikovsky is no easy task for the orchestra."

In order to reproduce the scores of Ellington and Strayhorn, some of the 18 big band musicians had to pick up a new instrument-such as clarinet, piccolo, finger cymbals and tambourine-this is a lesson on how to be versatile , Working musicians.

However, Goods said that after the turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, part of the lessons his musicians learned was a return to the basics. This means learning the music of Count Basie, which is the focus of the Big Band fall concert, and Ellington-"the two most important black big bands in the history of jazz," he said.

"The basic knowledge of how to play big band jazz is, can you play Earl Bessie? Can you play Duke Ellington?" Huo said. "If you can play these two styles, you can basically play anything."

The concert in the concert hall on Saturday starts at 8pm. General admission is US$12; students, senior citizens (60 years and older) are US$7, and children under 12 are free. To purchase tickets and view the university's COVID-19 guidelines, please visit the event website.

If you can’t watch the holiday show in person, you can still watch it when YouTube is capped.

URI Symphony Orchestra members: Sarah O'Brien and Molly Vallee, flute; Lindsey Moran and Tyler Vanable, oboe; Autumn Casey, Tsai Lin Fair brothers and Jaden Wechtmann, clarinet; Anthony Andriole and Catherine Gagnon, French horn; Emily Redmond and Joseph Riley, trumpet; David Canavan and Ben Marcotte, trombone; Daniel Mahholt, tuba; Eric Leonard, drums; Andrew Dyson, percussion; Gia Antolini (concert conductor) , Madison Cahoon, Margaret Dein Bradley, Alan Renfrew and Skye Min, Violin 1; Jessenia Grijalva (Principal), Abby Hang, Elizabeth McNab, Judy Keller and Tyler Chin, Violin 2; Norman Winn (Principal), Emilia Delemontex, Julia Canuel and Cieria Westbrook, viola; Ryan Chauvette (principal), Elizabeth Rogers and Jose Amador, cello; Wyatt Crosby (principal) and Louis Kogut, bass.

Guest musicians of the Warwick Symphony Orchestra: Patricia Moody, flute; Linda Carpenter, clarinet; Gerry Heroux, French horn; Kacie St. Sauveur, trumpet; James Himmelman , Trombone; Nika Webster, Paul Liu and Alexander Carroll, violin 1; Helen Ianni, Liam DeRosa and Vittoria Monte, violin 2; Elizabeth Morrison and Dana Borgia, viola; Emily Johnson and Nina Pei Here, the cello.

URI big band members: Fernando Marzan, Andrew Liguori, Jude LaRoche, Joshua Raposo, Nick Medlen and Cedric Mayfield (guest artists), saxophone; Emily Redmond, Dante Lopes, Joseph Riley and Kylan Harding, trumpet; Daniel Mach-Holt, Ben Marcotte, Ryan Sullivan and David Canavan, trombone; Aiden Rogler, guitar; Wyatt Crosby, bass; Andrew Dyson, drummer Mason Tucker, piano-Tara Gozaydin in "Have Yourself a Merry Little The lead singer in "Christmas".

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