Ann Hampton Callaway Performs with Jazz Band Classic in the Allen Room, 5/23

The New York Youth Symphony's Jazz Band Classic concludes its tenth season on Wednesday, May 23, 2009, at 7:30pm with "Sounds From The City," featuring soloist Ann Hampton Callaway at The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Under the direction of Matt Holman, director, the group will perform songs from New York City with music by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Frank Sinatra, as well as a big band salute to Broadway. The Adjacent Possible by Evan Weiss, commissioned through the New York Youth Symphony's acclaimed First Music program, will receive its world premiere.

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of the leading champions of the great American Songbook, having made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer. A born entertainer, her unique singing style blends jazz and traditional pop, making her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters and jazz clubs as well as in the recording studio, on television, and in film. She is best known for Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing!, and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series 'The Nanny'. Ms. Callaway is a Platinum Award-winning writer whose songs are featured on six of Barbra Streisand's recent CD's. The only composer to have collaborated with Cole Porter, she has also written songs with Carole King, Rolf Lovland, and Barbara Carroll, to name a few. She is one of America's most gifted improvisers, taking words and phrases from her audiences and creating songs on the spot, whether alone at a piano or with a symphony orchestra. Ms. Callaway has been a special guest performer with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, and is featured at many of the Carnegie Hall tributes.

Performer, composer, and educator MATT HOLMAN concludes his second season as JBC Director with this evening's performance. He has performed with such diverse artists as Fred Hersch, Kurt Elling, Darcy James Argue, Jon Gordon, and Bob Newhart. He has earned national and international performance awards including the International Trumpet Guild's Jazz Improvisation Competition, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, the National Trumpet Competition, Downbeat, and ASCAP. As a composer Mr. Holman has been commissioned to write works for Marvin Stamm, Ed Soph, David Baker, and the National Conservatory of Costa Rica. A dedicated and passionate educator, he has taught at the Birch Creek Performance Center, the British School of Chicago, and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Holman holds a M.M. from Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was also awarded the Performer's Certificate.

EVAN WEISS was born and raised near Seattle, Washington. He studied music at the University of North Texas during which he had the opportunity to compose, perform, and travel with the Grammy-nominated One O'Clock Lab Band. Mr. Weiss was able to record several albums with the group and began building his reputation as a big band arranger. His pieces were performed at a series of sold-out concerts featuring guests such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Rich Perry, Bill Holman, Phil Woods, and Wayne Bergeron. He has recorded and toured with Nobody's Business, an electric quartet whose unique textural and rhythmic concept transcended genre and the Hildegunn Gjedrem Group. Recently, Mr. Weiss has performed his compositions in Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, China, Italy, and Poland. He can be heard at clubs in Dallas and New York throughout the year.

Jazz Band Classic (JBC) is a program of the award-winning New York Youth Symphony, an independent program nurturing the metropolitan area's best young musicians with programs in orchestra, chamber music, composition, and conducting in addition to jazz. The JBC is modeled on the big bands of the 1930's and 40's and re-invigorates the big band arrangements of the classic exponents of jazz. Jazz Band Classic showcases New York City's best young jazz talent in performances of traditional big band music along with the stylizations of the current jazz idiom.

Tickets for the May 23rd performance are available for $20 online at www.nyys.org or by calling 212-581-5933. They can also be purchased through Jazz at Lincoln Center at www.jalc.org or by calling 212-721-6500.