Patti Austin to Perform with BSO, 2/19-22

Grammy and Oscar award-winning vocalist Patti Austin returns to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for a performance devoted to the brilliance of Washington, DC native Duke Ellington and "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald, Thursday, February 19 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m. Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 22 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Led by Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly, Ms. Austin joins the Orchestra for such legendary jazz classics as "Cottontail," "I Got It Bad," "It Don't Mean a Thing" and more. Please see below for complete program details.

Jack Everly, conductor

Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. This season, Maestro Everly will conduct over 90 performances in more than 20 North American cities.

As music director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the National Mall. These concerts attract hundreds of thousands attendees on the lawn and the broadcasts reach millions of viewers and are some of the very highest rated programming on PBS television.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was music director of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

Maestro Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community for over 12 years and when not on the podium you can find Maestro Everly at home with his family which includes Max the wonder dog.

Patti Austin, vocalist

Patti Austin's been a bonafide entertainer since she stepped onto the stage of the Apollo Theater in Harlem at the age of four at the urging of music legend Dinah Washington.

During the 70s Patti was the undisputed "queen" of the New York session scene, her voice was heard behind everyone from Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and James Brown to Bette Midler and Diana Ross. She signed with her godfather Quincy Jones' Qwest label and achieved mainstream success on an international level thanks to the GRAMMY-nominated hit "Baby Come To Me," and Oscar-nominated "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" The GRAMMY-nominated For Ella album opened up new doors for Patti as a performer and her embrace by the jazz world was sealed with her Grammy winning classic Avant Gershwin.

In 2014, Patti continues her philanthropic work with "The Over My Shoulder Foundation" and is working on a Duke Ellington big band tribute sure to garner serious Grammy consideration.

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