Roosevelt High School Jazz Nutcracker This Week-End

Tickets are on sale now for Roosevelt High School Jazz Nutcracker held this week-end.  Roosevelt (1410 NE 66th Street) is the reference high school for Laurelhurst. 

Performances will be held on Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm.  Tickets are $18 for adults and $13 for seniors and students.

The Roosevelt Jazz Band will perform selected songs from Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Jazz Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker songs, are reworked into swinging versions; 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' becomes 'Sugar Rum Cherry' and 'Arabian Dance' is now 'Arabesque Cookie.’  The Roosevelt Jazz Band has the rights to perform this arrangement.

A Roosevelt Jazz Parent told the Laurelhurst Blog that four of the kids in the photo above are all seniors this year and are former classmates and graduates of Laurelhurst Elementary. 

The parent said:

We are delighted to have four Laurelhurst Elementary School graduates participate in the show this year. Carter Eng, a trumpet player, said that without the support of his teachers at Laurelhurst Elementary School, he would not have discovered his passion for music. You may recognize Carter from Alpha Martial Arts where he teachers karate. Toby Jay plays bass trombone with the jazz band. Playing music at Roosevelt High School has enabled Toby to travel extensively and, although he plans to be an engineer, he hopes to continue to play music in college.  

James Pettis started playing the saxophone at Laurelhurst and is excited to perform the Nutcracker for the first time this year. He is active in First Robotics, competing in both FTC and FRC. Zach Sahlin remembers attending an Outreach Concert when he was a 5th grader at Laurelhurst Elementary School. He’s excited to be playing trombone with the band this year. Zach also enjoys skiing, wake boarding and preparing and serving food at University Presbyterian Church.  

These Roosevelt seniors and their band mates will perform two concerts for the public and two shorter shows for local area 4th and 5th graders as part of an outreach program sponsored by the Roosevelt Jazz Boosters.  

The Roosevelt Jazz Band is one of five jazz ensembles at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School. Led by Director Scott Brown, the band performs throughout the Pacific Northwest, competing in jazz festivals and raising funds for the school’s jazz program at many events, including the annual Starbucks sponsored “Hot Java Cool Jazz” concert featuring the area’s top high school jazz bands. 

The band has been fortunate to have been selected as an Essentially Ellington Competition finalist in 18 of the past 20 years, earning a spot to compete with the best high school jazz bands in the nation at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Most recently, the band performed with Jovino Santos Neto as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival and later this month they will perform at Safeco Field as part of the Enchant Christmas event. 

We hope you will make the Roosevelt Jazz Nutcracker part of your holiday tradition. They are excited to perform this show, a great Seattle holiday tradition,

For more information and to purchase tickets go here.