New England Conservatory presents Too Marvelous for Words: Music of Frank Sinatra, a concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 15. The event, conducted by Jazz Studies Chair Ken Schaphorst, will feature the NEC Jazz Orchestra and student vocalists with the NEC Philharmonia String Section. Included on the program are many of the most famous arrangements associated with Sinatra such as Nelson Riddle’s arrangements of “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “Witchcraft” as well as Quincy Jones’s arrangements of “Fly Me To the Moon,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” and “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Members of the NEC Philharmonia augment the NEC Jazz Orchestra for the second half of the program, beginning with “It Happened in Monterey.” The concert takes place at at NEC’s Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston and is free and open to the public. For more information, go to: necmusic.edu
or call 617-585-1122.

Featured soloists include Wonmi Jung, Katie Martucci, Natalie Dietz, Elizabeth Hoyt, Laila Smith, Charmaine Lee, Joseph Copeland, Darryn Dean, Carrie Furniss, Alexandra Keller, Robert Pate, Chloe Brisson, Priya Carlberg and Liz Tobias. The complete program is available at http://necmusic.edu/event/14491

This is one of over 100 free concerts and master classes from NEC’s Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation departments for the 2015-2016 season. Other highlights include a Gunther Schuller Memorial Concert, birthday concerts for Anthony Coleman 60, Fred Hersch 60, and Ran Blake 80, workshops/master classes by top flight musicians including Dave Holland; recitals by stellar NEC faculty including Ken Schaphorst, Dominique Eade, Eden MacAdam-Somer and Bob Nieske; and In the Mix and CI Salon Nights, 81 one-hour concerts featuring exceptional student ensembles. All concerts are free and open to the public.

NEC’s Jazz Studies Departmentwas the first fully accredited jazz studies program at a music conservatory. The brainchild of Gunther Schuller, who moved quickly to incorporate jazz into the curriculum when he became President of the Conservatory in 1967, the Jazz Studies faculty has included six MacArthur “genius” grant recipients (three currently teaching) and four NEA Jazz Masters, and alumni that reads like a who’s who of jazz. Now in its 45th year, the program has spawned numerous Grammy winning composers and performers. As Mike West writes in JazzTimes: “NEC’s jazz studies department is among the most acclaimed and successful in the world; so says the roster of visionary artists that have comprised both its faculty and alumni.” The program currently has 95 students; 48 undergraduate and 47 graduate students from 13 countries.
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www.necmusic.edu/jazz