CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY SEASON with special performances of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s The Nutcracker Suite and Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, performed by the New School Studio Orchestra (NSSO).

Featuring live narration to Peter & The Wolf by esteemed actor, Ramsey Faragallah!

With guest artist Steve Cardenas on guitar, conducted by Keller Coker. This event is open to the public and free with registration.

This event will be Livestreamed. Click here at showtime.

View the program here.

Ellington and Strayhorn’s The Nutcracker Suite features jazz interpretations of themes from Tchaikovsky’s beloved 1892 ballet score. The Smithsonian writes, “Ellington and Strayhorn did not simply place jazz rhythms over Tchaikovsky's music. Instead, they picked up the notes, recast the beats, communed with the themes, and recreated the work, turning it into something that was at once completely their own and completely Tchaikovsky's. In doing so, they showed that while music may be the universal language, it is spoken with many accents (and therein lies the fun).”

Of the 1966 Peter and the Wolf recording of Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic work, AllMusic writes “Oliver Nelson arranged a variety of themes from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf into a swinging suite featuring the great organist Jimmy Smith. [It’s] a classic of its kind.”

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