Wednesday October 18, 2023
Over Veterans Day, U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club Makes Anticipated Return to Orchestra Hall
Following an acclaimed debut performance with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2018, the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club will again perform at Orchestra Hall during Veterans Day weekend. Together with the full Orchestra and conductor Sarah Hicks, they will present patriotic favorites, Broadway hits and choral classics, and will collaborate with the Orchestra’s own trumpeter Charles Lazarus on original arrangements.
The program will be presented at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday, November 11, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, November 12, at 2 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $38 to $88. Active duty service members and veterans are invited to enjoy a 25% discount on their tickets.
Directed by Dr. Aaron Smith, the United States Naval Academy Glee Club consists of the United States Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club, which has achieved prominence as one of the world’s premier men’s choruses, and the United States Naval Academy Women’s Glee Club, which is the only all-female military choral ensemble in the world. These ensembles are components of the United States Naval Academy’s musical activities department, which is the primary source of fine arts education for the Brigade of Midshipmen.
The Glee Clubs have performed alongside the nation’s leading orchestras and at concert halls around the world. In this program, they will perform, among others, their iterations of patriotic songs such as Amazing Grace and America the Beautiful; selections from musical plays and films On the Town, Guys and Dolls and The Pirates of Penzance; and arrangements featuring Orchestra trumpeter Charles Lazarus that include Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and American Swing Time Salute.
About Sarah Hicks
Sarah Hicks, the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall, has led a broad range of programs since joining the Orchestra as assistant conductor in 2006, and has earned wide acclaim as a guest conductor in the U.S. and abroad. Her notable projects here have included co-creating the Inside the Classics series and Sam & Sarah series with Orchestra violist Sam Bergman and leading original productions with collaborators such as PaviElle French, Kevin Kling, Peter Rothstein, Robert Elhai and The Moving Company. She has been an artistic leader in concerts featuring artists from Minnesota’s popular music scene, including shows with The New Standards, singer-writer-rapper Dessa—with whom Hicks and the Orchestra made a live-in-concert recording on Doomtree Records—and Cloud Cult. Next April she will lead the Orchestra’s first concerts with Minnesota-based hip-hop artist Nur-D. A specialist in film music and the film in concert genre, Hicks premiered Pixar in Concert and Disney and Pixar’s Coco in Concert; her live concert recording of A Celebration of the Music from Coco at the Hollywood Bowl can be seen on Disney+ and her work on The Little Mermaid Live! was broadcast on ABC. More: minnesotaorchestra.org.
About U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club
The United States Naval Academy Glee Club, directed by Dr. Aaron Smith, consists of the United States Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club and the United States Naval Academy Women’s Glee Club. The Glee Clubs often perform masterpieces of choral-orchestral literature combining with the nation’s leading orchestras. In the past decade alone, the Glee Clubs have performed extensively throughout the U.S. and countries abroad including Chile, Argentina and Brazil, and they have undertaken several European tours that included performances at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, cathedrals in Brussels, Wells, Winchester and Salisbury, and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The Clubs’ other recent notable performances include appearances at the dedication ceremony of the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award ceremony, the Commissioning Ceremony and Gala for the George H. W. Bush Aircraft Carrier (CVN-77), the Presidential Inaugural Concert “We Are One” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center Honors, among many other events. It is with honor, pride and distinction that the Glee Clubs represent the United States, the Navy and Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. More: usna.edu/music.
About Charles Lazarus
Trumpeter Charles Lazarus, a member of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2000, is a multi-faceted performer, composer, producer and bandleader whose career has included tenures in Dallas Brass, Meridian Arts Ensemble and Canadian Brass. He has created and produced several crossover orchestral shows featuring his various ensembles with which he has released five recordings. His live recording of Steve Heitzeg’s American Nomad concerto and a children’s animated short film collaboration with author Michael Hall are available online. Lazarus has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras around the U.S. and Canada, performed with the Empire Brass, New York Philharmonic Principal Brass, London Brass, Barry White and opened for Tony Bennett. In demand as a clinician and teacher, he has performed and taught master classes in every U.S. state, Canada and throughout Asia and Europe. More: minnesotaorchestra.org, charleslazarus.com.
Live at Orchestra Hall
U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY GLEE CLUB
with the Minnesota Orchestra
Saturday, November 11, 2023, 7 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Sunday, November 12, 2023, 2 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club
Sarah Hicks, conductor
Charles Lazarus, trumpet
Tickets: $38 to $88 [Active duty service members and veterans are invited to enjoy a 25% discount on their tickets.]
TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION
Tickets and subscription packages can be purchased at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5656. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.