INDIANAPOLIS — The University of Indianapolis will inject a dose of swing into the city’s holiday arts offerings Dec. 7 when it presents Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite as reimagined for jazz orchestra by legendary bandleader Duke Ellington and his longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn.
Larry Strayhorn, nephew of the great composer and arranger, will emcee this evening of music, featuring a 20-piece big band of UIndy students, faculty, alumni and local jazz professionals conducted by Freddie Mendoza, the university’s Director of Jazz Studies. The concert, set for 7:30 p.m. in UIndy’s Ransburg Auditorium, also will celebrate the 100th anniversary year of Billy Strayhorn’s birth. Tickets and more information are available at (317) 788-3251 or www.uindy.edu/etc.
On his UIndy visit, Larry Strayhorn also will present Lush Life, an Emmy-winning documentary film about his uncle, who died of cancer in 1967. The free screening will begin at 6:15 p.m. Dec. 4 at UIndy’s Schwitzer Student Center.
