Chappaqua Orchestra, West Point’s Jazz Knights Partner for Best of B’way
Throughout its illustrious 55-year history, The Chappaqua Orchestra has been largely known for its classical music performances.
On Sunday, the orchestra gets to try something a little different for its 2014-15 season-ending concert.
It will team up with the West Point Band’s Jazz Knights at Horace Greeley High School at 3 p.m. to present “Broadway Lights,” featuring some of the most popular and enduring music from legendary shows on the Great White Way.
Featured selections will include music from “West Side Story,” “A Little Night Music,” “My Fair Lady,” “Oklahoma! and “Of Thee I Sing.”
Chappaqua Orchestra Music Director and conductor Michael Shapiro said the sound the audience will hear this weekend will transport them back to the early and mid 20th century, when full orchestras performed the music of Gershwin, Rodgers, Porter, Loewe, Bernstein and Sondheim.
“The goal here is to present the arrangements as they were heard in the 1930s, the original arrangements from the original show,” Shapiro said.
Joining members of the two ensembles will be accomplished jazz vocalist and recording artist Alexis Cole, a Thursday night regular at Crabtree’s Kittle House, and acclaimed vocalist Mary Kay Messinger, who has performed in famous venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and has sung the national anthem and “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. Cpl. Jeremy Gaynor, a member of the Jazz Knights, will also be a featured performer.
The Horace Greeley High School Madrigal Choir, a select choir that has joined the Chappaqua Orchestra for the annual New Castle Community Sing and Christmas tree lighting, will be part of the concert in its home auditorium.
In his 13 years at the Chappaqua Orchestra’s helm, Shapiro has been known to experiment, particularly when it comes to each season’s finale. This year is no different. The orchestra’s strings will be on hand along with the Jazz Knights brass for a sound that audiences don’t even hear on Broadway anymore, he said.
The Jazz Knights, under the direction of Scott Arcangel, is one of several musical groups at West Point. The Knights play a mixture of popular music, big band and original arrangements for jazz ensemble, having performed with a star-studded list of jazz talent over its more than 30 years.
To find talent for the Knights, West Point actively recruits some of the best musicians across the United States and from some of the most prestigious music schools in the nation.
At West Point, the Jazz Knights play for number of military and patriotic functions around the country throughout the year, combining with the academy’s concert band and field music unit.
Tickets for the concert, which are available at the door or through The Chappaqua Orchestra website, are $20. Students will be admitted free of charge. Horace Greeley High School is located at 70 Roaring Brook Rd. in Chappaqua.
For more information, visit www.chappaquaorchestra.org.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
