The Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra will perform at Wartburg College Wednesday, April 13.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. in Neumann Auditorium. Tickets, which are $18 for adults and $10 for students, are available in advance at www.wartburg.edu/kenton/ or at the door. The Wartburg College Knightliters will open for the ensemble beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Ticketholders also are invited to attend a clinic at 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium.
The 19-piece ensemble, under the direction of Mike Vax, includes alumni from the original Stan Kenton Orchestra as well as some new musicians. The group regularly tours the United States playing in schools, on jazz cruises and at festivals. They perform music played by the original orchestra and new material written in the Kenton style.
John Hanssen, a 1965 Wartburg graduate, regularly travels with the band and helped bring them to the college.
“I saw them in October 1961 when they came to campus. I loved the Kenton sound and the powerful brass section,” Hanssen said. “When I saw we would be in the Iowa area and the open date on our schedule, I thought it would be perfect for us to stop. Big band jazz was more popular in the ’60s, but it’s good for all people to hear the Stan Kenton sound.”
Kenton was a pianist, composer and arranger who formed his first big band orchestra in 1941. The big band ensemble works to uphold his legacy, perform meaningful music and share the importance of the jazz heritage with the next generation.
The concert is sponsored by the Wartburg College Department of Music.
