FROM RAGTIME TO EARLY JAZZ: The Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert to Take Place This Month

The Gunther Schuller Society and New England Conservatory's Contemporary Musical Arts and Jazz Studies departments will honor the birthday of the most transformative figure in NEC's history with From Ragtime to Early Jazz, the Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert on Tuesday, November 21. 
 
Directed by CMA co-chair Hankus Netsky, From Ragtime to Early Jazz celebrates the 50th anniversary of Schuller's 1973 Grammy Award-winning The Red Back Book recording which re-introduced chamber orchestra arrangements of Scott Joplin's music originally published around 1912. The album, which featured NEC students and was recorded in Jordan Hall, remained on Billboard's Top 100 list for 54 weeks. 
 
The November 21 concert features classic ragtime compositions by Joplin, James Scott, and Eubie Blake, along with early jazz classics originally recorded by Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Performers include members of NEC's Jazz Studies and CMA Early Jazz Ensembles directed by Anthony Coleman, an NEC Woodwind Quintet, and a ragtime orchestra comprised of current NEC students, along with NEC faculty member and DMA candidate Chi Wei Lo, NEC alum Alex Stening, and current NEC students Roman Barten Sherman and Paul July Joseph. It also features two special guest artists, arranger and ragtime banjo revivalist Aaron Jonah Lewis and NEC alum, longtime NEC Ragtime Ensemble member, and legendary local bandleader and trumpeter Bo Winiker.
 
The 7:30 p.m. performance is at NEC's Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Admission is free but reservations are required. The concert will also be livestreamed. For information visit Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert | New England Conservatory (necmusic.edu).
 
The Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert is an annual event produced by NEC and the Gunther Schuller Society to honor composer, conductor, author, renowned horn player and former NEC president Schuller.
 
About New England Conservatory (NEC)
Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867, the New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston's rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians' impact on advancing our shared humanity, and empowers students to meet today's changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance.

As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz and contemporary improvisation. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, it empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students and adults.
 
The Gunther Schuller Society was created as a vehicle for continuing the legacy of composer, author, conductor, horn player, educator, and musical visionary Gunther Schuller. Its mission is to preserve and illuminate Schuller's work and to perpetuate his ideals in the development of curiosity, innovation, and character in today's artists and society. To learn more, visit guntherschullersociety.org.

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