ellington jazz series
Thomas C. Duffy, artistic director
Amina Figarova Sextet and the Matsiko World Orphan Choir
Friday, September 20, 2024 | 7:30 pm
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
José García-León, Dean
Artist Profiles
Amina Figarova, piano & composer
Hailing from Azerbaijan, then New Orleans by way of New York, Amina Figarova is an internationally influenced— and recognized—composer, pianist, and bandleader. Her roles come to the forefront with her sextet band and with a remarkable chemistry that brings her detailed arrangements to life. Every member of the group stands out, but their dedication to Figarova’s eclectic and powerful compositions gives the group its depth of feeling.
In 2018, Amina composed a suite for a South African children’s choir and her sextet, which was performed at the “Joy of Jazz” Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa with a student choir from Soweto. Her aspiration was to record this masterpiece with the choir, but due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, it was impossible. However, fate intervened when Amina and Bart found themselves on the same flight from Europe to NYC with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir from Liberia. After conversing with the choir director, they decided to perform and record music together that was originally intended for South Africa.
The choir consists of 24 orphaned and at-risk children from Liberia in West Africa. They are spending 10 months performing at jazz festivals and venues with the Amina Figarova Sextet, and churches across the USA, where they will perform to gain 1,000 educational sponsors for their siblings, friends and families.
Amina Figarova Sextet
Amina Figarova, piano
Bart Platteau, flutes
Wayne Escoffery, tenor saxophone
Alex Pope Norris, trumpet
Yasushi Nakamura, double bass
Rudy Royston, drumset
Matsiko World Orphan Choir
Terry Cooper
Allen Kamara
Gabriel Kollie
Habakkuk Smith
Archibald Tommy
Samuel Williams
Samuelta Coleman
Faith Collins
Annie Dahn
Janet Daniels
Christine David
Alvina Dehwaye
Naterline Gaye
Fatu Giddings
Salome Grimes
Tryphena (Vanessa) Johnson
Tryphosa (Fredia) Johnson
Favor Karbeh
Ellen Morris
Mallay Mulbah
Blessing Nyorkor
Jessica Saab
Joanna Saab
Faith Vinton
About the Ellington Jazz Series
For fifty years, the Duke Ellington Fellowship has brought the giants of jazz to Yale’s concert halls and to the city’s public schools. In 1972, Yale’s president Kingman Brewster presented the first Ellington medals to thirty jazz greats, including the Duke himself. That year marked the beginning of a series of extraordinary jazz concerts by Eubie Blake, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Odetta, Max Roach, and Charles Mingus, to name just a few.
The Ellington Series continues to present concerts and residencies by jazz legends as well as the new generation of artists.
Thank you for your support!
Become a Yale School of Music patron and support our performance programs. Enjoy patron benefits like preferred seating and invitations to special events.
» To join or for more information, visit music.yale.edu/support or contact us at (203) 432–4158.
gustave j. stoeckel circle
$50–$124
Stephanie Halene
samuel simons sanford circle
$125–$249
David Dubinsky
horatio parker circle
$250–$499
Natalia Vladova–Mugue
List as of September 20, 2024
Upcoming Events at YSM
sep 25 Ran Dank, piano
Horowitz Piano Series
7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall
Tickets start at $31
sep 27 Mahler Symphony No. 7
Yale Philharmonia, Peter Oundijan, principal conductor
7:30 pm|Woolsey Hall
Tickets start at $13
oct 1
Brentano String Quartet
Oneppo Chamber Music Series
7:30 pm. | Morse Recital Hall
Tickets start at $31
oct 2 Paco Peña, guitar
7:30 pm. |Morse Recital Hall
Tickets start at $31
0ct 6 Scott Hartman, trombone
Faculty Artist Series
3:00 pm | Morse Recital Hall
Free admission
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