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It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to another exciting season at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall. We hope that you enjoy performances here with family and friends, that you are amazed by the talent on stage and that each performance connects with you in a meaningful way. We have planned a variety of exciting programs this season. We hope you will save the date for such performances as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Cirque Holidaze, Letterman Christmas, Branford Marsalis, Verb Ballet, and so many others.
2017-2018 Season
Dear Patron,
As you entered the hall, we hope you noticed the improvements we have made. Regal wood panels have been installed on both sides of the lobby atrium walls, areas have received a fresh coat of paint, and new energy-saving LED lights have been installed. We are committed to preserving the integrity of the Hall for generations to enjoy.
As our season continues, stay connected with Thomas Hall by visiting our website at UAevents.com and signing up to receive our weekly e-news, and by liking our Facebook page (facebook.com/EJThomasHall) for contests, pre-sale offers and more. Thank you for supporting E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall at The University of Akron.
Margo E. Ohlson Director of Theatre Operations
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Nathan J. Mortimer, CPA Vice President for Finance & Administration/ CFO
EJ THOMAS HALL
Thanks to the generosity of The Flying Balcony Club, a new red house curtain was purchased for the Thomas Hall stage. The curtain is colossal in size, with two panels that are each 38 feet high by 32 feet wide. To thank the members, a light will shine on the stage curtain to highlight the Flying Balcony logo before each performance.
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2017-2018 Season
EJ THOMAS HALL
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
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GENERAL INFORMATION
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Phone Numbers you should know: Ticket Office..........................330-253-2488 Information Counter..........330-972-6828 General Information...........330-972-7595 Lost and Found....................330-972-7595 Website........................ www.uaevents.com Ticket Office
Guest Services
Advance tickets are available at the EJ Thomas Hall Ticket Office Monday through Friday 10 am-4 pm. On days of shows the Box Office is open two hours prior to show times.
Assistive Listening System The Williams Personal Assisted sound system is available at the McCormick Information counter for all performances. This is a special receiver with headphones or loop to enable the listener to hear the spoken word more clearly.
Tickets may also be purchased online at ticketmaster.com, by calling Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000, or at Ticketmaster outlets. There is a per ticket service charge and handling fee for all Ticketmaster purchases. Discounts are not available. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket. Refunds – Please check your tickets carefully, as all sales are final. Exchanges are not permitted. Refunds are given if an event is canceled and are made to the original purchaser at the point of purchase. Beware of Ticket Scalpers EJ Thomas Hall is not responsible for tickets purchased through unauthorized third parties. Tickets to EJ Thomas Hall events may not be resold at a premium. Tickets ordered within nine (9) days of the performance will be held at Will Call. A photo ID is needed to pick up Will Call tickets. Gift Certificates are available and are valid for up to one year from the date of purchase. Cancellations, postponed events, or inclement weather – On rare occasions severe weather may cause EJ Thomas Hall to cancel or postpone an event. Event cancellation information is available by calling The University of Akron emergency information number at 330-972-SNOW (7669.) You may also visit our website, Facebook page, or Twitter for the most upto-date information.
Accessible Seating EJ Thomas Hall has seating for patrons in wheelchairs and special needs at Entry 10 in the Orchestra and Entry 14 on the Grand Tier level. Patrons needing assistance to their seat may stop at the Information Counter in McCormick Lobby. An usher will assist you with wheelchair transportation to your seating area. Requests should be made when ordering tickets by calling the Ticket Office at 330-253-2488. Handicap Parking There are a limited number of handicap parking spaces available in the EJ Thomas Hall parking deck. Additional spaces are located in Lots 26 and 27, directly across from the Hill Street entrance. Show a valid H/C permit and traffic police will direct you to the nearest spot. There is a $5 charge for all parking. Accessible Restrooms Accessible restrooms are located at the bottom of both ramps on either side of the building. Family Events Some events at EJ Thomas Hall are specifically designed for children and families and we encourage you to enjoy these events. For performances not suitable for young children, parents are asked to use discretion.
Intermission Intermissions are 20 minutes in length. Lobby lights will flash as your signal to return to your seat for the start of the performance.
For a Wonderful Evening … Live performance is truly magical; art created from the energy flowing between people on both sides of the curtain. When you attend a show, you are part of the experience. There is no rewind or instant replay at a live event. In general: n Leave home early enough to find parking and locate your seats before the performance begins. Remember to allow time for poor weather conditions, heavy traffic, road construction and parking congestion, especially on school nights.
n Read the program notes.
n Patrons on emergency call status should leave their name and seat location at the Information Desk so that we may reach you during a pause in the performance n Smoke Free/Tobacco Free – EJ Thomas Hall is a smoke and tobacco free building. This includes e-cigarettes. n Unless instructed to do so by the performers, do not talk, hum, sing along or beat time. n Aisles must be kept free of any obstructions for safety. n For your enjoyment, food and beverages purchased at EJ Thomas Hall are permitted inside the theatre for selected shows. n In the event of an emergency, ushers and other members of the staff will advise audience members as to the appropriate procedures to exit the theater as quickly and safely as possible. Patrons needing special assistance should contact the ushers.
Interested in renting EJ Thomas Hall for that special occasion or performance? Please call 330-972-7595 or email ejthomas@uakron.edu.
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n Safety First – Listen to the pre-show announcements and note the emergency exit routes.
Theater Policies n Cameras or any other recording devices are not permitted – this includes cell phones. Please silence all electronic devices as a courtesy to both other audience members and the performers.
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Subscriber Lounge As a season subscriber to the Broadway in Akron shows, you not only “lock in” your seats from season to season, but you also enjoy live music, snacks and a private bar in Goodrich Lobby before the performance and during intermission. Season subscribers also receive complimentary parking for the performances, get priority offers to special events and have a personal Ticket Office contact for ticket exchange and replacement services.
Following these general rules of the theater will ensure that everyone can enjoy the show.
EJ THOMAS HALL
ATM PNC Bank has an ATM in the Ticket Office Lobby for your convenience. Food and beverage service is cash only.
n When in doubt, ask the ushers. They are here to help.
2017-2018 Season
Seating Latecomers Please note the curtain time printed on your tickets as performances begin promptly. Latecomers will be seated at a suitable pause in the program. This includes patrons who leave the auditorium before or during a selection.
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uaevents.com THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON EJ THOMAS HALL 2017-2018 Season
Edwin J. “Eddie” Thomas, 1899-1986 Born in 1899, the son of an East Akron postman, “Eddie” Thomas started with The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in 1926 as a stenographer and worked his way up to President at age 41 (1940), Chief Executive Officer (1956) and Chairman of the Board (1958). Upon his retirement in 1964, at a time where most people would have put their feet up and relaxed, Thomas, who had been a Director of The University of Akron since 1952, turned his energies toward the future of Akron itself. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Area Progress Board he helped raise large sums of money to pump life into “the old hometown.” Projects focused on downtown redevelopment became a reality and his dedication to the United Fund and other local charities helped untold numbers of Akron residents. Even today, The E. J. Thomas Foundation continues to support many local charities and benefits the community. So persuasive were his powers and his personality that in 1967 Goodyear made a pacesetting gift of $1.25 million, the largest ever given to the University at the time, to name the performing arts hall on its campus in his honor. At the July 30, 1968 groundbreaking, Mr. Thomas and Norman P. Auburn, President Emeritus, made the following remarks: “This building will provide an inspiration for all those who labored over the years to keep the light of culture burning in Akron. This structure reflects the inspiration of Norman P. Auburn and all of the trustees, the campaign workers and the donors who have worked so hard to get it.” —Edwin J. Thomas “The opening of the Edwin J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall is another evidence of the splendid town and gown relationship in Akron. This majestic structure will now serve as a cultural bridge, linking together a thriving community and a great University. All of us who worked over the years to bring this worthy project to fruition are grateful to the thousands of donors whose gifts turned a dream into a reality.” —Norman P. Auburn, president emeritus, The University of Akron (1973)
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uaevents.com THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON EJ THOMAS HALL 2017-2018 Season 8
Sarah Chang
A Thank You… Special appreciation is extended to the John S. Knight and James L. Knight Foundation for the generous support of EJ Thomas Hall. Knight Foundation has funded the EJ Thomas Hall Endowment to enhance programming, established the John S. Knight Lectureship at The University of Akron and continues to fund contemporary performers at EJ Thomas Hall. Founded by brothers Jack and Jim Knight, newsmen who owned the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight Foundation fosters more informed and engaged communities. The foundation’s arts program works to make art general in Knight communities, so that a range of programming is seen and felt across the city. Knight invests in some of the city’s anchor arts institutions, helping them better engage the public, and in smaller initiatives through the Knight Arts Challenge, which funds the best ideas for the arts. Over the past several years, the arts program has invested $11 million in the Akron arts, including funding for a new national choreography center at The University of Akron and support for grassroots efforts through the challenge. The University of Akron and EJ Thomas Hall would like to thank John Palfrey, chairman of the foundation’s board, and Alberto Ibargüen, president, for their continued support of EJ Thomas Hall. The University also wishes to recognize the leadership of Hodding Carter, III, former president, CEO and trustee and his predecessors Creed Black, C. Colmery Gibson and Ben Maidenburg. Special recognition is also extended to Dr. W. Gerald Austen, University of Akron Honorary alumnus, as former chairman and trustee of Knight Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Learn more about the foundation at knightfoundation.org.
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JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS Wynton Marsalis, Music Director, Trumpet Greg Gisbert, Trumpet Kenny Rampton, Trumpet Marcus Printup, Trumpet Vincent Gardner, Trombone Chris Crenshaw, Trombone Elliot Mason, Trombone Sherman Irby, Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet Dan Block, Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet Victor Goines, Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet Walter Blanding, Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet
EJ THOMAS HALL
Paul Nedzela, Baritone and Soprano Saxophones, Bass Clarinet Dan Nimmer, Piano Carlos Henriquez, Bass Marion Felder, Drums Program to be announced from the stage. Brooks Brothers is the official clothier of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.
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Visit us at jazz.org.
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Become our fan on Facebook: facebook.com/jazzatlincolncenter Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/jazzdotorg Watch us on YouTube: youtube.com/jazzatlincolncenter Artists subject to change. (As of 6/7/16)
2017-2018 Season EJ THOMAS HALL
MEET THE ARTISTS The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education and advocacy.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today, has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988. Featured in all aspects
Education is a major part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission; its educational activities are coordinated with concert and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tour programming. These programs, many of which feature Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members, include the celebrated
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With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, education, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose Hall, “The House of Swing”) and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Robert J. Appel, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive Director Greg Scholl. Please visit us at jazz.org.
of Jazz at Lincoln Center's programming, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe; in concert halls; dance venues; jazz clubs; public parks; and with symphony orchestras; ballet troupes; local students; and an everexpanding roster of guest artists. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and many others.
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Photo by Frank Stewart
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Jazz for Young People™ family concert series; the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival; the Jazz for Young People™ Curriculum; educational residencies; workshops; and concerts for students and adults worldwide. Jazz at Lincoln Center educational programs reach over 110,000 students, teachers and general audience members. Jazz at Lincoln Center, NPR Music and WBGO have partnered to create the next generation of jazz programming in public radio: Jazz Night in America. The series showcases today’s vital jazz scene while also underscoring the genre’s storied history. Hosted by bassist Christian McBride, the program features hand-picked performances from across the country, woven with the colorful stories of the artists behind them. Jazz Night in America and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s radio archive can be found at jazz.org/radio. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra spends over a third of the year on tour. The big band performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center- commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington; Count Basie; Fletcher Henderson; Thelonious Monk; Mary Lou Williams; Billy Strayhorn; Dizzy Gillespie; Benny Goodman; Charles Mingus; Chick Corea; Oliver Nelson; and many others. Guest conductors have included Benny Carter; John Lewis; Jimmy Heath; Chico O'Farrill; Ray Santos; Paquito D’Rivera; Jon Faddis; Robert Sadin; David Berger; Gerald Wilson; and Loren Schoenberg. Jazz at Lincoln Center also regularly premieres works commissioned from a variety of composers including Benny Carter; Joe Henderson; Benny Golson; Jimmy Heath; Wayne Shorter; Sam Rivers; Joe Lovano; Chico O'Farrill; Freddie Hubbard; Charles McPherson; Marcus Roberts; Geri Allen; Eric Reed; Wallace Roney; and Christian McBride, as well as from current and former Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash, Victor Goines, Sherman Irby, Chris Crenshaw, and Carlos Henriquez.
Over the last few years, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has performed collaborations with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic; the Russian National Orchestra; the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; the Boston, Chicago and London Symphony Orchestras; the Orchestra Esperimentale in São Paolo, Brazil; and others. In 2006, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra collaborated with Ghanaian drum collective Odadaa!, led by Yacub Addy, to perform “Congo Square,” a composition Mr. Marsalis and Mr. Addy co-wrote and dedicated to Mr. Marsalis’ native New Orleans. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performed Marsalis’ symphony, Swing Symphony, with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin and with the New York Philharmonic in New York City in 2010 and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles in 2011. Swing Symphony is a Co-Commission by the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and The Barbican Centre. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has also been featured in several education and performance residencies in the last few years, including those in Vienne, France; Perugia, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; London, England; Lucerne, Switzerland; Berlin, Germany; São Paulo, Brazil; Yokohama, Japan; and others. Television broadcasts of Jazz at Lincoln Center programs have helped broaden the awareness of its unique efforts in the music. Concerts by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra have aired in the U.S.; England; France; Spain; Germany; the Czech Republic; Portugal; Norway; Brazil; Argentina; Australia; China; Japan; Korea; and the Philippines. Jazz at Lincoln Center has appeared on several XM Satellite Radio live broadcasts and eight Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts carried by PBS stations nationwide; including a program which aired on October 18, 2004 during the grand opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and on September 17, 2005 during Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Higher Ground Benefit Concert. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Higher Ground Benefit Concert raised funds for
Manhattan Transfer with The Hazelnuts
Che Malambo
7:30 p.m. | Oct. 17, 2017 | Ohio Theatre
7:30 p.m. | March 17, 2018 | Ohio Theatre
Dominick Farinacci’s The Spirit of the Groove presents The Mayor and The People 7 p.m. | Oct. 22, 2017 Maltz Performing Arts Center
Grupo Corpo 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 and 3 p.m. Jan. 21 | Ohio Theatre Co-presented with DANCECleveland
Gerald Clayton: Piedmont Blues – A Search for Salvation featuring The Assembly and René Marie
7:30 p.m. | April 14, 2018 Tri-C Metropolitan Campus
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Part of the Tri-C Stokes Legacy Project
Co-presented with DANCECleveland
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
2017-2018 PERFORMING ARTS SERIES
EJ THOMAS HALL
In 2015, Jazz at Lincoln Center announced the launch of Blue Engine Records (www. jazz.org/blueengine), a new platform to make its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere.
The label is dedicated to releasing new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from past Jazz at Lincoln Center performances, and its first record— Live in Cuba, recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—was released in October 2015. Blue Engine’s second offering—Carlos Henriquez’s The Bronx Pyramid—was released in September 2016. In December 2015, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis released Big Band Holidays, featuring special guest vocalists Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gregory Porter, and René Marie. The following release was The Abyssinian Mass, a Wynton Marsalis composition featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Damien Sneed, 70-piece Gospel Choir Chorale Le Chateau, and special guest Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III. The Music of John Lewis featuring pianist Jon Batiste hit stores in March 2017. To date, 14 other recordings featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis have been released and internationally distributed: Vitoria Suite
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the Higher Ground Relief Fund that was established by Jazz at Lincoln Center, and was administered through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to benefit the musicians, music industry-related enterprises, and other individuals and entities from the areas in Greater New Orleans who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and to provide other general hurricane relief. The band is also featured on the Higher Ground Benefit Concert CD that was released on Blue Note Records following the concert. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra was featured in a Thirteen/WNET production of Great Performances entitled “Swingin’ with Duke: Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis,” which aired on PBS in 1999. In September 2002, BET Jazz premiered a weekly series called Journey with Jazz at Lincoln Center, featuring performances by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from around the world.
Tri-C JazzFest
June 28 - 30, 2018
17-1756
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(2010); Portrait in Seven Shades (2010); Congo Square (2007); Don’t Be Afraid...The Music of Charles Mingus (2005); A Love Supreme (2005); All Rise (2002); Big Train (1999); Sweet Release & Ghost Story (1999); Live in Swing City (1999); Jump Start and Jazz (1997); Blood on the Fields (1997); They Came to Swing (1994); The Fire of the Fundamentals (1993); and Portraits by Ellington (1992). For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, please visit www.jazz.org WYNTON MARSALIS (Music Director, Trumpet) is the Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Mr. Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12 and soon began playing in local bands of diverse genres. He entered The Juilliard School at age 17 and joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Mr. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 70 jazz and classical albums which have garnered him nine GRAMMY® Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz GRAMMY® Awards in the same year; he repeated this feat in 1984. Mr. Marsalis' rich body of compositions includes Sweet Release; Jazz: Six Syncopated Movements; Jump Start and Jazz; Citi Movement/Griot New York; At the Octoroon Balls; In This House, On This Morning; and Big Train. In 1997, Mr. Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 1999, he released eight new recordings in his unprecedented Swinging into the 21st series, and premiered several new compositions, including the ballet Them Twos, for a 1999 collaboration with the New York City Ballet. That same year, he premiered the monumental work All Rise, commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic along with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir. Sony Classical released All Rise on CD in 2002. Recorded on September 14 and 15, 2001 in Los Angeles in the tense days following 9/11, All Rise features the Jazz at Lincoln Center
Orchestra along with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Morgan State University Choir, the Paul Smith Singers and the Northridge Singers. In 2004, he released The Magic Hour, his first of six albums on Blue Note records. He followed up his Blue Note debut with Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, the companion soundtrack recording to Ken Burns' PBS documentary of the great African-American boxer; Wynton Marsalis: Live at The House Of Tribes (2005); From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (2007); Two Men with the Blues, featuring Willie Nelson (2008); He and She (2009); Here We Go Again featuring Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones (2011); and Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play The Blues (2011). To mark the 200th Anniversary of Harlem’s historical Abyssinian Baptist Church in 2008, Mr. Marsalis composed a full mass for choir and jazz orchestra. The piece premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center and followed with performances at the celebrated church. Mr. Marsalis composed his second symphony, Blues Symphony, which was premiered in 2009 by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and in 2010 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. That same year, Marsalis premiered his third symphony, Swing Symphony, a Co-Commission by the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and The Barbican Centre. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performed the piece with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin and with the New York Philharmonic in New York City in 2010 and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles in 2011. Mr. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of universities and colleges throughout the U.S. He conducts educational programs for students of all ages and hosts the popular Jazz for Young People™ concerts produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Mr. Marsalis has also written and is the host of the video series “Marsalis on Music” and the radio series Making the Music. He has also written six books: Sweet Swing Blues on the Road, in collaboration with photographer Frank Stewart; Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life, with Carl Vigeland; To a Young Musician: Letters
2017-2018 Season EJ THOMAS HALL Photo by Joe Martinez
Ray Nagin's initiative to help rebuild New Orleans culturally, socially, economically, and uniquely for every citizen. Mr. Marsalis was instrumental in the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, which raised over $3 million for the Higher Ground Relief Fund to benefit the musicians, music industry related enterprises, and other individuals and entities from the areas in Greater New Orleans who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina. He led the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home–Frederick P. Rose Hall–the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened in October 2004.
Blanding attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and continued his studies at the New School for Social Research, where he earned a
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WALTER BLANDING (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet) was born into a musical family on August 14, 1971 in Cleveland, Ohio and began playing the saxophone at age six. In 1981, he moved with his family to New York City; by age 16, he was performing regularly with his parents at the Village Gate.
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from the Road, with Selwyn Seyfu Hinds; Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!, illustrated by Paul Rogers, published in 2012; and Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, with Geoffrey C. Ward, published by Random House in 2008. In October 2005, Candlewick Press released Marsalis' Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits, 26 poems celebrating jazz greats, illustrated by poster artist Paul Rogers. In 2001, Mr. Marsalis was appointed Messenger of Peace by Mr. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; he has also been designated cultural ambassador to the United States of America by the U.S. State Department through their CultureConnect program. In 2009, Mr. Marsalis was awarded France’s Legion of Honor, the highest honor bestowed by the French government. Mr. Marsalis serves on former Lieutenant Governor Landrieu's National Advisory Board for Culture, Recreation and Tourism, a national advisory board to guide the Lieutenant Governor's administration’s plans to rebuild Louisiana’s tourism and cultural economies. He has also been named to the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, former New Orleans Mayor C.
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B.F.A. in 2005. His 1991 debut release, Tough Young Tenors, was acclaimed as one of the best jazz albums of the year, and his artistry began to impress listeners and critics alike. He has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 1998 and has performed, toured, and/ or recorded with his own groups and with such renowned artists as the Cab Calloway Orchestra, Roy Hargrove, Hilton Ruiz, Count Basie Orchestra, Illinois Jacquet Big Band, Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Roberts, Wynton Marsalis Quintet, Isaac Hayes, and many others. Blanding lived in Israel for four years and had a major impact on the music scene while touring the country with his own ensemble and with U.S. artists such as Louis Hayes, Eric Reed, Vanessa Rubin, and others invited to perform there. He taught music in several Israeli schools and eventually opened his own private school in Tel Aviv. During this period, Newsweek International called him a “Jazz Ambassador to Israel.” During Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2016–17 season, Blanding was commissioned to write and premiere The Happiness of Being, a work inspired by jazz of the 1960s. DAN BLOCK (Tenor Saxophone) has a dual reputation as a mainstream jazz musician and a specialist in traditional jazz. He adapts to a host of musical genres on numerous instruments. He has worked as a sideman with Toshiko Akiyoshi, Frank Wess, Richard Wyands, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Harry Allen, Jerry Dodgion, and Howard Alden. On the more traditional side, he has worked frequently with Vince Giordano, Marty Grosz, and Judy Carmichael. Much of his work has been with singers like Michael Feinstein, Natalie Cole, Anne Hampton Calloway, Bobby Short, Linda Ronstadt, and Rosemary Clooney. Block is a regular on the jazz party circuit, playing every year at Chautauqua and the past three years at Norwich, as well as the Atlanta, Wilmington, Elkhart, and San Diego festivals. His clarinet and saxophone has been heard in such films as The Aviator, The Good Shepherd, Revolutionary Road, and, most recently, HBO’s series Boardwalk Empire. He has also played on countless radio and television commercials. Block has recorded as a leader for Arbors Records, Concord, and Music
Minus One. His latest album, Almost Modern, and a subsequent record, Nostalgia—both on Sackville Recording—received excellent reviews internationally. Block is classically trained (Juilliard 1980), and he has played genres including salsa, Caribbean music, and klezmer, which have come together to form his own unique sound. CHRIS CRENSHAW (Trombone) was born in Thomson, Georgia on December 20, 1982. Since birth, he has been driven by and surrounded by music. When he started playing piano at age three, his teachers and fellow students noticed his aptitude for the instrument. This love for piano led to his first gig with Echoes of Joy, his father Casper’s gospel quartet group. He started playing the trombone at 11, receiving honors and awards along the way, he graduated from Thomson High School in 2001 and received his Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jazz Performance from Valdosta State University in 2005. Crenshaw was awarded Most Outstanding Student in the VSU Music Department and College of Arts. In 2007, he received his Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from The Juilliard School, where his teachers included Dr. Douglas Farwell and Wycliffe Gordon. He has appeared as a sideman on fellow JLCO trumpeter Marcus Printup's Ballads All Night and on Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues. In 2006, Crenshaw joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Since then he has been commissioned to write God’s Trombones (2012), a spiritually focused work, and The Fifties: A Prism (2017). Both major works were premiered by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. MARION FELDER (Drums) was born in 1984 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Felder began playing drums at the age of three. His earliest influences range from gospel music to Motown. He graduated from the world-famous Cass Technical High School, which has produced many jazz greats over the years. During high school, Felder began performing with legendary trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, who encouraged him to move to New York City. Felder received his bachelor and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and has since performed, recorded, or toured with
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*We are open for Brunch the first Sunday of Every Month at 11am
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GREG GISBERT (Trumpet) has performed, toured, and recorded with some of the biggest names in jazz and popular music. The list includes Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Maria Schneider, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, James Moody, Ron Carter, Buddy Rich, Horace Silver, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Bobby Short, Mel Tormé, Harry Connick, Jr., David Bowie, and Lady Gaga. His Broadway credits include After Midnight, On a Clear Day, State Fair, Leap of Faith, and The Life. As a studio musician he has played on You’ve Got Mail, Glengary Glenn Ross, Naked Gun 2 ½, and Bullets Over Broadway, as well as playing sports theme music for the NFL, NHL, and MLB. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and on Good Morning America with pop music legend Paul Anka. Gisbert is an active educator and is frequently in demand as a guest clinician and teacher at colleges, universities, conservatories, and music academies around the world.
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VINCENT GARDNER (Trombone) was born in Chicago in 1972 and was raised in Hampton, Virginia. After singing, playing piano, violin, saxophone, and French horn at an early age, he decided on the trombone at age 12. He attended Florida A&M University and the University of North Florida. He soon caught the ear of Mercer Ellington, who hired Gardner for his first professional job. He moved to Brooklyn, New York after graduating from college, completed a world tour with Lauryn Hill in 2000, and then joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Gardner has served as Instructor at The Juilliard School, as Visiting Instructor at Florida State University and Michigan State University, and as Adjunct Instructor at The New School. He is currently the Director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and he has contributed many arrangements to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and other ensembles. He has been commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write The Jesse
B. Semple Suite, a 60- minute suite inspired by the short stories of Langston Hughes (2009), and Ooh-Yadoodle-E-Blu For Me and You: A Bop Celebration, a work inspired by the invention of bebop (2017). Gardner is featured on a number of notable recordings and has recorded five CDs as a leader for Steeplechase Records. He has performed with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bobby McFerrin, Harry Connick Jr., The Saturday Night Live Band, Chaka Khan, A Tribe Called Quest, and many others. Gardner was chosen as the #1 Rising Star Trombonist in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll and nominated for Rising Star Male Vocalist.
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the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Marcus Belgrave, Michael Bublé, David Ostwald, Shayna Steele, John Alred, Victor Goines, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Christian McBride, Grady Tate, Catherine Russell, Sara Gazarek, Hank Jones, Bobby Watson, Paul Simon, Nile Rodgers, Carla Cooke, Vanessa Rubin, Frank Wess, Regina Carter, Martha Reeves, Tom Harrell, Donald Brown, Marcus Printup, Randy Sandke, Vincent Gardner, Ben Wolfe, Carl Allen, Eddie Henderson, Lalah Hathaway, the Clarke Sisters, Ernestine Anderson, Jim Rotondi, Jim Snidero, and Allan Harris. Felder has been a regular member in the Wycliffe Gordon Quintet and Count Basie Orchestra.
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VICTOR GOINES (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet) is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993, touring throughout the world and recording over 20 albums. As a leader, Goines has recorded seven albums including his latest releases, Pastels of Ballads and Blues (2007) and Love Dance (2007) on Criss Cross Records, and Twilight (2012) on Rosemary Joseph Records. A gifted composer, Goines has more than 50 original works to his credit, including 2014’s Crescent City and 2016’s Untamed Elegance, both premiered by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He has recorded and/or performed with many noted jazz and popular artists including Ahmad Jamal, Ruth Brown, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Lenny Kravitz, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Willie Nelson, Marcus Roberts, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and a host of others. Currently, he is the Director of Jazz Studies/Professor of Music at Northwestern University. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1984 and a Master of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in 1990. CARLOS HENRIQUEZ (Bass) was born in 1979 in the Bronx, New York. He studied music at a young age, played guitar through junior high school and took up the bass while enrolled in The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. He entered LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts and was involved with the LaGuardia Concert Jazz Ensemble which went on to win first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in 1996. In 1998, swiftly after high school, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and featured on more than 25 albums. Henriquez has performed with artists including Chucho Valdés, Paco De Lucía, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Marc Anthony, and many others. He has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern University School of Music
since 2008, and was music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s cultural exchange with the Cuban Institute of Music with Chucho Valdés in 2010. His debut album as a bandleader, The Bronx Pyramid, came out in September 2015 on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records. SHERMAN IRBY (Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet) was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He found his musical calling at age 12 and in high school he played and recorded with gospel immortal James Cleveland. He graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a B.A. in music education. In 1991 he joined Johnny O’Neal’s Atlanta-based quintet. In 1994 he moved to New York City and recorded his first two albums, Full Circle (1996) and Big Mama’s Biscuits (1998), on Blue Note Records. Irby toured the U.S. and the Caribbean with the Boys Choir of Harlem in 1995, and was a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from 1995 to 1997. During that tenure he also recorded and toured with Marcus Roberts, and was part of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program and Roy Hargrove’s ensemble. After a fouryear stint with Roy Hargrove, Irby focused on his own group in addition to being a member of Elvin Jones’ ensemble in 2004 and then Papo Vazquez’ Vazquez’s Pirates Troubadours after Jones’ passing. From 2003–11 Irby was the regional director for JazzMasters Workshop, mentoring young children. He has also served as artist-inresidence for Jazz Camp West and an instructor for Monterey Jazz Festival Band Camp. Irby is a former board member for the CubaNOLA Collective. He formed Black Warrior Records and released Black Warrior, Faith, Organ Starter, Live at the Otto Club, and Andy Farber’s This Could Be the Start of Something Big. Since rejoining, Irby has arranged much of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s music, and he has been commissioned to compose new works, including 2010’s Twilight Sounds (For Norman Lewis) and his Dante-inspired ballet, Inferno (2012). ELLIOT MASON (Trombone) was born in England in 1977 and began trumpet lessons at age four with his father. At age seven, he switched his focus from trumpet to
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MARCUS PRINTUP (Trumpet) was born and raised in Conyers, Georgia (which has declared August 22 “Marcus Printup Day” in his honor). His first musical experiences were hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church. While attending the University of North Florida on a music scholarship, he won the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet competition. In 1991, Printup’s life changed when he met his mentor, the great pianist Marcus Roberts, who introduced him to Wynton Marsalis. This led to Printup’s induction into the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993. Printup has recorded with Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Madeline Peyroux, Ted Nash, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, and
EJ THOMAS HALL
PAUL NEDZELA (Baritone and Soprano Saxophones, Bass Clarinet) has become one of today’s top baritone saxophone players. He has played with many renowned artists and ensembles, including Wess Anderson, George Benson, The Birdland Big Band, Bill Charlap, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Michael Feinstein, Benny Golson, Wycliffe Gordon, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Dianne Reeves, Herlin Riley, Maria Schneider, Frank Sinatra Jr., The Temptations, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Reginald Veal, and Max Weinberg. Nedzela has performed in Twyla Tharp's Broadway show, Come Fly Away, and in major festivals around the world. He has studied with some of the foremost baritone saxophonists in the world, including Joe Temperley, Gary Smulyan, and Roger Rosenberg. Nedzela graduated with honors from McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 2006. A recipient of the Samuel L. Jackson Scholarship Award, he continued his musical studies at The Juilliard School and graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2008.
DAN NIMMER (Piano) was born in 1982 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With prodigious technique and an innate sense of swing, his playing often recalls that of his own heroes, specifically Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, Erroll Garner, and Art Tatum. As a young man, Nimmer’s family inherited a piano and he started playing by ear. He studied classical piano and eventually became interested in jazz. At the same time, he began playing gigs around Milwaukee. Upon graduation from high school, Nimmer left Milwaukee to study music at Northern Illinois University. It didn’t take him long to become one of Chicago’s busiest piano players. Working a lot in the Chicago scene, Nimmer decided to leave school and make the big move to New York City where he immediately emerged in the New York scene. A year after moving to New York City, he became a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. Nimmer has worked with Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Dianne Reeves, George Benson, Frank Wess, Clark Terry, Tom Jones, Benny Golson, Lewis Nash, Peter Washington, Ed Thigpen, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Fareed Haque, and many more. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, The Kennedy Center Honors, Live from Abbey Road, and PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center, among other broadcasts. He has released four of his own albums on the Venus label (Japan).
2017-2018 Season
trombone. At 11 years old, he was performing professionally, concentrating on jazz and improvisation. At 16, Mason received a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, and after graduating he moved to New York City. Mason is a member of The Juilliard School Jazz Faculty as a jazz trombone professor, and he is also a part of the Jazz Faculty at New York University. Mason has served as a clinician worldwide, performing workshops, master classes and clinics. Mason is endorsed by B.A.C. musical instruments and currently plays his own co-designed custom line of trombones. Mason has performed with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, Bobby Hutcherson, Ahmad Jamal, Randy Brecker, and Carl Fontana. A member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 2006, Mason also continues to co-lead the Mason Brothers Quintet with his brother Brad. The Mason Brothers recently released their second album, entitled Efflorescence.
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Roberts, among others. As a leader, he has recorded Song for the Beautiful Woman (1994), Unveiled (1996), Hub Songs 1998), and Nocturnal Traces (1998) on Blue Note Records; The New Boogaloo (2002 on Nagel Heyer Records; and for SteepleChase Records he has recorded Peace in the Abstract (2006), Bird of Paradise (2007), London Lullaby (2009), Ballads All Night (2010), A Time for Love (2011), and his most recent, Homage (2012) and Desire (2013, featuring Riza Printup on the Harp. Printup made a big screen appearance in the 1999 movie Playing by Heart and recorded on the film’s soundtrack. Education is important to Printup, as he is an in-demand clinician teaching middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the U.S. He teaches privately at the prestigious Mannes New School of Music. In 2016, Printup was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write Forever Swing, a piece inspired by the Swing Era, for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. KENNY RAMPTON (Trumpet) joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2010. In addition to performing in the JLCO, Rampton leads several of his own groups. He released his debut solo CD Moon Over Babylon in 2013. He is also the trumpet voice for the popular TV series Sesame Street. In the summer of 2010, Rampton performed with The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival, and was the featured soloist on the Miles Davis/ Gil Evans classic version of “Porgy and Bess.” Rampton has been a regular member
of The Mingus Big Band/Orchestra/Dynasty, Mingus Epitaph (under the direction of Gunther Schuller), George Gruntz’ Concert Jazz Band, Chico O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Bebo Valdés’ Latin Jazz All-Stars, and The Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. He spent much of the 1990s touring the world with The Ray Charles Orchestra, The Jimmy McGriff Quartet, legendary jazz drummer Panama Francis (and the Savoy Sultans), as well as jazz greats Jon Hendricks, Lionel Hampton, and Illinois Jacquet. As a sideman, Rampton has also performed with Dr. John, Christian McBride, The Maria Schneider Orchestra, Charles Earland, Geoff Keezer, and a host of others. Some of Rampton's Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Finian’s Rainbow, The Wiz, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Young Frankenstein, and The Color Purple. FRANCES YATES BITTLE (BS ’82, JD ’88) and her late husband, Edward L. Bittle (BA ’68, LHD ’11), shared a love of jazz that led them to establish The Bittle Jazz Residency at The University of Akron School of Music in 2003. Created to nurture and encourage a new generation of jazz musicians, the residency brings many leading performers to Akron. These artists have impacted learning by holding master classes and working directly with UA jazz students. Today, Fran Bittle continues her generous commitment of support, ensuring highquality, talented jazz performers share their expertise on the UA campus – with both jazz enthusiasts and students.
SEPTEMBER 2017 SAT 9/16 Tuesday Musical: Prelude Concert 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25 SAT 9/23 ASO: Opening Night, The Slavic Soul 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 THU 9/28 Wynton Marsalis 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25
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NOVEMBER 2017 WED 11/1 University of Akron School of Music, Collage 2017 7:30pm GA $12, $6 non UA students, UA students free with ZIP CARD FRI 11/3 Bob Dylan 8 pm $125, $79.50, $55 TUE 11/7 Dirty Dancing Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Reserved $77.50, $62.50, $40, $20 WED 11/8 Dirty Dancing Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Subscriber Prices $295, $245, $175, $40 SAT 11/11 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone – In Concert 1 pm Reserved $82, $72, $62, $52, $42 SAT 11/11 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone – In Concert 7:30 pm Reserved $82, $72, $62, $52, $42 SAT 11/18 ASO: Pictures at an Exhibition 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 SUN 11/19 Wild Kratts Live! 1 pm Reserved $103 VIP, $46, $36, $26
EJ THOMAS HALL
OCTOBER 2017 SUN 10/1 DanceCleveland Koresh Dance Company 3 pm Reserved $47, $42, $32, $27 FRI 10/6 ASO: Die Meistersinger 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 TUE 10/10 Kinky Boots Broadway In Akron 7:30 pm Reserved $77.50, $62.50, $40, $20 WED 10/11 Kinky Boots Broadway In Akron 7:30 pm Subscriber Prices $295, $245, $175, $40 FRI 10/13 Rumors: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac 8 pm Reserved $20 SAT 10/14 Second City Touring Company 8 pm Reserved $28 THU 10/19 Tuesday Musical: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25
FRI 10/27 Josh Rzepka Quartet featuring Theron Brown, Jordan McBride, and Zaire Darden 8 pm $20 SAT 10/28 ASO: Video Games Live 7:30 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $37, $25
2017-2018 Season
2017/2018 EJ SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
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DECEMBER 2017 FRI–SUN 12/1–3 Holiday Craft Show FRI 12/8 ASO: Home for the Holidays 7:30 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 SAT 12/9 Tuba Christmas 12 pm & 2:30 pm SAT 12/9 NUANCE 8 pm TUE 12/12 Cirque Dreams Holidaze 7:30 pm Reserved $97, $65, $55, $35 WED 12/13 The Lettermen Holiday Show 7 pm Reserved $40 SUN 12/17 Carol of the Kings: Irish Dance Christmas Spectacular 7:30 pm Reserved $35, $25 SAT 12/30 Mannheim Steamroller Christmas 7:30 pm Reserved $75, $60, $45, $10 JANUARY 2018 FRI 1/12 McCartney Project 8 pm SAT 1/20 ASO: Brahms Second Symphony 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 TUE 1/23 Tuesday Musical: Chamber Music Society 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25
FEBRUARY 2018 SAT 2/3 Vagina Monologues 8 pm $10 FRI 2/9 ASO: Petrushka w/NEOS Dance Theatre 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 FRI–SUN 2/16-18 Beyond the Stars Dance Competition SAT 2/24 ASO: Gospel Meets Symphony 7:30 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 MARCH 2018 SAT 3/3 Groundworks 8 pm THU 3/8 Tuesday Musical: Andreas Haefliger 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25 SUN 3/11 ASO: Youth Philharmonic 3 pm WED 3/14 University of Akron School of Music Presents Jazzfest 18: Blue is More 7:30 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD THU 3/15 University of Akron School of Music Presents Jazzfest 18: Blue is More 7:30 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD
2017-2018 Season
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WED 11/29 Tuesday Musical: Vienna Boys Choir 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25
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I build by taking apart.
I see what I’m capable of.
I find solutions.
I ask bigger questions.
I make today count.
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MAY 2018 TUE 5/1 Jersey Boys Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Reserved $77.50, $62.50, $40, $20 WED 5/2 Jersey Boys Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Subscriber Prices $295, $245, $175, $40 SAT 5/5 ASO: Verdi’s Requiem 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25
Take the Library with you.
EJ THOMAS HALL
APRIL 2018 SAT 4/7 University of Akron School of Music Presents U of A Steel Drum Band 8 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD SUN 4/8 University of Akron School of Music Presents Monster Pianos 2 3 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD TUE 4/10 A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Reserved $77.50, $62.50, $40, $20 WED 4/11 A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Broadway in Akron 7:30 pm Subscriber Prices $295, $245, $175, $40 SAT 4/14 ASO: Jazz Meets Symphony 7:30 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 SUN 4/15 University of Akron Greek Life Songfest 3 pm WED 4/18 Tuesday Musical: Brentano String Quartet 7:30pm Reserved $45, $40, $25 FRI 4/20 NUANCE Spring Concert 8 pm MON 4/23 Branford Marsalis 7:30 pm FRI 4/27 Verb Ballets 8 pm SUN 4/29 University of Akron School of Music Presents Big Band Dance 3 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD
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2017-2018 Season
FRI 3/16 University of Akron School of Music Presents Jazzfest 18: Blue is More 7:30 pm GA $12, non UA students $6, UA students free with ZIP CARD SAT 3/17 Tuesday Musical: Tribute to Sarah Vaughan 7:30 pm Reserved $45, $40, $25 FRI 3/23 ASO: Planet Earth 8 pm Reserved $60, $47, $37, $25 WED 3/28 Tuesday Musical: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra 7:30 pm $45, $40, $25
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EJ THOMAS HALL STAFF Nathan J. Mortimer, CPA Vice President for Finance & Administration/CFO njm9@uakron.edu Margo Ohlson Director of Theatre Operations mohlson@uakron.edu Melissa Paul Patron Services Manager mlpaul@uakron.edu
2017-2018 Season
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Patricia Donovan Theatre Manager patric3@uakron.edu
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Dominic Cardarelli Senior Accounts Coordinator dc21@uakron.edu Lenny Pizzute Technical Services Associate pizzute@uakron.edu Thomas Stewart Technical Services Associate tstewar@uakron.edu Volunteering at EJ Thomas Hall Do you ever wonder how to become a volunteer usher? If you enjoy sharing the arts with the public, helping them have a memorable experience, and making new friends, then consider becoming a volunteer usher at EJ Thomas Hall. As a team member or a substitute usher, you see a variety of programs while assisting the public, from children’s shows to Broadway, Akron Symphony and Tuesday Musical concerts to graduations. Contact Melissa Paul, Patron Services Manager at 330-972-6316 for more information. Many volunteers have served for 15 years or more and thoroughly value the friends they have made and their contribution to the arts in Akron.
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Located on the top floor, the Flying Balcony Club is a members-only area that features a full-service bar and hors d’oeuvres on selected evenings. New memberships begin at just $250 and include such perks as: n Reserved or complimentary parking n Food and beverage vouchers n Access to special club members services n Program recognition—and much more!
Last year, Flying Balcony Club memberships generously funded a new ACT curtain—the brightly lit red curtain that patrons see before every performance. The previous curtain was nearly two decades old, torn and faded, and had water damage. Thanks to memberships, patrons will be greeted by a new curtain that will be illuminated prior to every performance with the Flying Balcony Club logo—a special reminder of the group’s generosity.
RAVE ($500+) Marcia Adair and Dick Edwards Virginia Wojno-Forney James and Barbara Noonan Thomas and Diane Vukovich Molly Plaskett Jay Hershey Roger Read James Hindel Marianne Uhl Dianne Kauffman Nathan & Karen Mortimer Patricia Brown Kevin & Leslie Christensen Charles & Sue Walker Barbara A. Vensey Sherryl & Steve Owen APPLAUSE ($250+) Duwayne and Dorothy Hansen Marc and Sharon Merklin Judit Puskas and Gabor Kaszas John & Carolyn Kline Tom & Shirley Waltermire James & Paula Trenta Michael & Virginia Hoffman Thomas Luck Connie and Thomas Repko Faith and Thane Cook Barbara Banks and Phyllis Fitzgerald
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If you would like to become a member of the Flying Balcony Club contact Melissa Paul, Flying Balcony Membership Services at 330-972-6316 or mlpaul@uakron.edu.
STANDING OVATION ($750+) Mark and Sandra Auburn Thomas Dudek Wes & Linda Van Fossen
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Membership in the Flying Balcony Club also does something else: It provided EJ Thomas Hall with a vital source of funding. Membership proceeds are used to make improvements at the Hall that otherwise would not be possible.
BRAVO! ($1,500+) Randy and Mary Jo Worthington Miklos And Lorita Gaspar Julia Myers Kevin & Laura Crucs
EJ THOMAS HALL
EJ Thomas Hall is a treasure – for arts, for culture, for The University of Akron, and for the region!
2017-2018 Season
FLYING BALCONY CLUB MEMBERSHIP
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uaevents.com THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON EJ THOMAS HALL
Some Trivia and History
Above: EJ Thomas Hall. Right: 2017 renovations to the hall.
Have you ever wondered why the ACT Curtain and seats of most theatres are red? The tradition of using red for the ACT Curtain and seat covers of a theatre began in the nineteenth century. It could be that red is the color of opulence and grandeur, since, at one time, its use was restricted only to royalty. However, a more likely explanation is that red is the first color lost to our sight in low light conditions. This makes it easier for our eyes to adjust to the darkness of the theatre. Why is the room where the actors wait called the Green Room? The direct answer is that no one knows for sure because it is such a long standing tradition the origin of the phrase has been forgotten. Some explanations are: n Green is the easiest color on your eyes. n Green is a calming color and puts the actors at ease before going onstage. n The room was painted green to relieve the eyes from the glare of the stage. n In Shakespeare’s time, the room where the actor’s waited to go onstage was filled with greenery because it was believed the moisture in the plants helped the actor’s voices. n Many actors are nervous before a performance and may be nauseous and look “green.” Perhaps they were sent to the Green room while they waited. n In Shakespeare’s time, the stage area was known as the “Green” because it was usually a grassy area. The Green Room was the room closest to the stage or green.
2017-2018 Season
And the most likely explanation…
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n Before modern makeup was invented, the makeup actors used had to be cured or it would crack. Before the makeup was cured it was said to be “green” or uncured and the actors were sent to the Green room to sit quietly while their makeup dried. Many actors use the phrase “break a leg” before a performance, a way of wishing their fellow actors good luck before the show. But where did this phrase come from? Theatre has many superstitions, one of which is wishing someone good luck will actually backfire and give the actor bad luck in his performance. So by saying “break a leg” you can wish someone well without jinxing them. But back in the days of vaudeville, not every performer went on stage in front of the audience every night. If you remained backstage, you were not paid. The side curtains on a theatre stage are known as “legs.” When you go out in front of the audience, you enter from the side, and “breaking the leg” means you are now
Just as on sailing ships, it is bad luck for an actor to whistle on or off stage. Original stage crews were hired off ships in port, theatrical rigging having is origin in sailing rigging. Sailors used coded whistles to communicate. When the sailors became theatre riggers they used the same coded whistles to communicate scene changes. Actors who whistled could confuse them and cause mistakes in scene changes that could be dangerous to actors and crew alike.
EJ Thomas Hall occupies three acres on The University of Akron campus and was built at a cost of $13.9 million. Ground breaking was July 30, 1969. The cornerstone was laid on July 21, 1971, with the official grand opening October 9 and 10, 1973. “Initium,” by Carlos Chavez, was commissioned by the Akron Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the EJ Thomas Hall by the members of Witan in celebration of its 25th anniversary. Louis Lane, musical director and conductor of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, directed its performance in world premiere on October 9, 1973. The original score is on display in the Goodrich Lobby.
Located Located within within the the heart heart ofofthe ofthe the Cuyahoga Cuyahoga Valley Valley Located within the heart Cuyahoga Valley
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The Orchestra and Choral shell is the gift of the Tuesday Musical Association, given in memory of Mary Z. Schumacher of the Quaker Oats family whose generosity helped make these concerts possible. The shell is also used for Akron Symphony Orchestra concerts, lectures and many other performances. The shell moves on air casters to be put in place on the stage.
EJ THOMAS HALL
The sound-reflecting ceiling is the most unique and troublesome feature of the building, with EJ Thomas Hall being one of the few halls in the world whose movable ceiling still functions. The 44 ton ceiling is composed of 3,800 interlocking steel panels, suspended in curved sections from a network of counterweighted cables attached to the Louis A. Witzman Counterweights in Goodrich Lobby with a combined weight of 47 tons. When the weights are all the way down, the ceiling is all the way up.
2017-2018 Season
in front of the audience receiving pay. So wishing an actor “break a leg” is wishing them a good paid performance.
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