MOUNT VERNON – The Knox Community Jazz Orchestra will bring its swinging sound to the Mount Vernon High School Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 20, to kick off the 2021 holiday season.
The concert begins at 7 p.m., with a suggested $5 (or nonperishable food) contribution requested at the door, with all monetary and food contributions going to this year’s Food for the Hungry food drive.
Music lovers who have followed the local big band since it debuted in 2017 can expect to hear not only some old favorites but also some Swing Era arrangements as well as new music that the group will be performing for the first time.
“We’ll be playing Glenn Miller’s ‘String of Pearls,’ for example, but also a new piece called ‘Reflections of Rio’ by composer Rich DeRosa,” said Ted Buehrer, who leads the 20-member ensemble.
The band’s vocalist, Amanda Mayville, will also perform new pieces, including an arrangement of “Orange Colored Sky,” first popularized by Nat King Cole. She’ll also sing a samba version of George and Ira Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day,” first arranged for Rob Parton’s Jazztech Big Band.
“We’re really pleased to be performing again,” said Buehrer, a music professor at Kenyon College who plays trumpet with the jazz orchestra in addition to conducting. “As we come out of the pandemic, we’re looking for ways to safely bring this great music back to the community on a more regular basis.”
This past summer, the jazz orchestra also performed on the Summer Concert Series at Ariel Foundation Park, as well as the new Mount Vernon Music and Arts Festival, both outdoor venues.
The jazz orchestra is pleased to be supporting Food for the Hungry, Buehrer said. The annual holiday-season charitable drive, founded in 1982, supports local agencies, such as Interchurch Social Services and the Salvation Army, that provide food and other basic necessities to the needy. All donations stay in Knox County. This year’s Food for the Hungry goal is $275,000 and as much nonperishable food as people can contribute.
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