Master Singers of Worcetser and WPI Stage and Jazz Band and WPI Singers presents: Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts

         Duke Ellington’s acclaimed “Sacred Concerts” will be performed at 4 PM Sunday, March 17 by the Master Singers of Worcester, in cooperation with the WPI Stage Band and Jazz Ensemble and WPI Singers, with featured vocalists Monica Hatch, Theresa Thomason, and Jeff Ramsey along with Tap Dancer Josh Hilberman. The concert will be held at Alden Hall on the WPI Campus. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for Seniors and Students. For further info and tickets go to www.MSWMA.org or call 508-842-1349

            Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an accomplished jazz pianist and composer originally from the Washington, D.C. area. In the last years of Duke Ellington's life, the jazz visionary explored the spiritual side of his amazing talents. Between 1965 and 1973, he wrote three large works that combined elements of jazz, classical music, choral music, spirituals, gospel, blues and dance. He called them his "sacred concerts," and they were initially performed in churches and cathedrals around the world. Ellington once said this was the most important music he'd ever written. Because of the demanding music and the large number of artists needed to execute each work, Ellington's sacred concerts have rarely been performed in the 38 years since his death in 1974.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM8djbVZ03s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAMSk26ILwk