Trumpeter, conductor and vocalist Byron Stripling will join the Jacksonville Symphony for Fidelity National Financial Pops Series concert “Ragtime, Blues and Jazz” on Oct. 12-13.
In this “tour de force” concert, Stripling will showcase ragtime masters Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton, plus blues legends B.B. King and Muddy Waters.
Stripling has performed internationally, but locally, the Symphony’s patrons may recognize him from his appearance in its 2016-2017 performance of “Ella and Louis.” As a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, and has also been a featured soloist on the PBS television special, “Evening at Pops,” with conductors John Williams and Lockhart. Currently, Stripling serves as artistic director and conductor of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson and Buck Clayton, in addition to The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and The GRP All-Star Big Band.
Since his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops, Stripling has emerged as one of America’s most popular symphony pops guest artists, having performed with more than 100 orchestras around the world including the Boston Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and Dallas Symphony, to name a few.
The Jacksonville Symphony will perform “Ragtime, Blues and Jazz” on Friday, Oct. 12 and Saturday, Oct. 13, both at 8 p.m. in the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Jacoby Symphony Hall. An hour prior to the concert on Friday evening, the Guild of the Jacksonville Symphony will also host an Instrument Zoo for any and all Symphony patrons.
Jacksonville Symphony to perform ‘The Life and Times of Beethoven’
The Jacksonville Symphony’s first family concert of the season will be performed the same weekend on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m., and will feature performer Michael Boudewyns as he takes the audience through “The Life and Times of Beethoven.”
Professor Nigel Taproot (Michael Boudewyns), the affable and learned classical music aficionado, invites you to an original program for families celebrating Beethoven, his remarkable age and four famous notes. The program features the music of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, with a playful peppering of fascinating facts and timely trivia. Pre-concert activities, starting at 2 p.m., will feature the Instrument Zoo presented by the Jacksonville Symphony Guild, family-friendly crafts and a variety of local organizations focused on educating Jacksonville’s youth.
Tickets start at $10 and the concert will be performed in Jacoby Symphony Hall in the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville, with the pre-concert activities to take place throughout the Times-Union Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the ticket office at (904) 354-5547 or visit www.jaxsymphony.org.
