What: The One O'Clock Lab Band and Jazz Singers perform Sounds of the Holidays: An Evening with North Texas Jazz. A day prior to the community concert, there will be private performances for Denton ISD schoolchildren as part of a community engagement initiative.
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 7 (Saturday)
Where: Winspear Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 Interstate 35E, in Denton.
Tickets: $3 per person. urchase tickets at the Murchison Performing Arts Center online or by calling the Murchison Box Office at 940-369-7802.
DENTON, Texas (UNT) – The UNT College of Music's Grammy-nominated One O'Clock Lab Band and Jazz Singers will unite for a series of concerts Dec. 6-7 for schoolchildren and the community.
Sounds of the Holidays: An Evening with North Texas Jazz features the One O'Clock, directed by Steve Wiest, and the Jazz Singers, directed by Jennifer Barnes, performing holiday favorites. A concert geared toward the entire Denton community, Sounds of the Holidays will be performed at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 in Winspear Hall in Denton. Two concerts for roughly 1,400 sixth grade students from Denton ISD will be performed Dec. 6. These concerts are made possible by UNT's Professional Development Institute and offer every sixth-grader in Denton the opportunity to participate.
The program will include holiday favorites such as "Angels We Have Heard on High," "The Christmas Song," "Silent Night" and other classics.
"One of the fun things is that featuring both the One O'Clock and the Jazz Singers means that people will get to hear both instrumental and vocal jazz," Barnes said. "The Jazz Singers will be singing in three different kinds of settings – a cappella, with rhythm section and with big band. I think it will be fun and give people a chance to hear some really interesting jazz treatments of these familiar tunes to get them in the holiday spirit."
Both groups are also looking forward to performing for Denton schoolchildren, Barnes said.
"We're very excited to have the chance to perform for the sixth-graders as a bonus for the Dec. 7 concert," said Barnes. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity for many young people to see and hear a concert that has many pieces of music with which they're familiar, but set in the different style of jazz."
The concerts are a gift to the community, said Associate Vice President for Community Engagement Ken Robertson. UNT's Professional Development Institute is also paying for the transportation of the schoolchildren to the concert and dozens of UNT students, faculty and staff have dedicated their time to practicing and preparing for these concerts, he said.
"There are going to be children who come to these concerts who have never been to a performance like this. And for some it will be their first time on a university campus" Robertson said. "We hope to reach out to them. Maybe it will help them get involved in music. We hope they will remember this as a positive experience."
As parents and other community members hear about the concerts from the children, they will likely want to share in the experience, so that is why UNT made the community concert affordable -- $3 a person.
The One O'Clock Lab Band and Jazz Singers perform Sounds of the Holidays: An Evening with North Texas Jazz at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 (Saturday) in Winspear Hall in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, 2100 Interstate 35E, in Denton. Purchase tickets at the Murchison Performing Arts Center online or by calling the Murchison Box Office at 940-369-7802.
About the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band
The six-time Grammy-nominated UNT One O'Clock Lab Band – the premiere ensemble of UNT's Jazz Studies program in the College of Music – has performed and toured throughout the world, including Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and The Netherlands. UNT offered the nation's first bachelor's degree program in jazz studies in 1947, and the university's jazz studies program is consistently rated among the nation's best.
About the UNT Jazz Singers
The University of North Texas Jazz Singers is the premier vocal jazz ensemble within the Division of Jazz Studies in the College of Music. The ensemble consists of 14 vocalists and a four-piece rhythm section who perform a challenging and varied repertoire of jazz and jazz-influenced music, emphasizing close vocal harmonies, cutting-edge repertoire and improvisation. The ensemble was awarded "Outstanding Performance" as a Graduate-level Jazz Choir in the 2012 and 2013 DownBeat Student Music Awards, and has been named the Collegiate Jazz Choir winner numerous times.
About the UNT College of Music
The UNT College of Music is one of the largest and most respected comprehensive music schools in the country. More than 1,600 music students attend UNT each year, participating in more than 50 widely varied ensembles and pursuing specialized studies in performance, composition, music education or music scholarship. UNT faculty members and students have made appearances on the world's finest stages and have produced numerous recordings, many receiving Grammy awards and nominations. Distinguished UNT alumni can be found around the globe, in top music ensembles, opera companies, universities and schools.