Current Concert Season

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. “Symphony No. 4” (David Maslanka); Yale Band commission “The Pursuit of Happiness” (Jim Colonna), inspired by the work of Dr. Laurie Santos (the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University). Other music: “Country Band March” (Charles Ives) and “Stride”(Kevin Day).

“Everyone has a Christmas album, but this one, for sure, is distinctive, different, and delightful. And a worthy successor to Ellington and Strayhorn.” — Richard J Salvucci, All About Jazz

“The Pan American Nutcracker Suite is an aural tour de force, an all-encompassing, immersive sound experience.” — music writer Ken Micallef

Presented in the spirit of the season as part of the Yale School of Music’s Ellington Jazz Series, the Latin Grammy Award-winning New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band and the Yale Concert Band will perform two, interspersed settings of Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Nutcracker” Suite.

The New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band will perform its famed Pan American Nutcracker Suite, a jazz/Afro-Caribbean reconceptualization of Tchaikovsky’s classic co-created and arranged by drummer Joe McCarthy and Vince Norman that unites diverse musical traditions of the Americas and beyond. Each movement of the Pan American Nutcracker Suit will be followed by one from the traditional, classical arrangement performed by the Yale Concert Band, led by Thomas C. Duffy, in a wonderful presentation that juxtaposes two complementary versions of this timeless masterpiece.

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Program TBA.

Wayne Escoffery, Music Director. Program TBA.

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Feat. Jennifer Jolley’s “Dust” for brass quintet and wind ensemble, Seraph Brass, guest artists.

All-female chamber group Seraph Brass was founded by trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden with a mission to showcase the excellence of female brass players and highlight musicians from marginalized groups, both in personnel and in programming. Winners of the American Prize in Chamber Music, the group has been praised for their “beautiful sounds” (American Record Guide), “fine playing” (Gramophone), and “staggeringly high caliber of performance” (Textura). Seraph primarily performs as a quintet, with a dynamic roster drawing from America’s top brass musicians.

Other music TBA.