VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL PRESENTS 

ELLINGTON 125:  ATTUCKS JAZZ ORCHESTRA
CELEBRATES  DUKE ELLINGTON’S 125TH BIRTHDAY 

Todd Stoll, director Catherine Russell, vocals 

Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 pm Attucks Theatre, Norfolk 

Celebrating Duke Ellington’s 125th will be vocalist Catherine Russell and a top-notch 16-piece all-star jazz orchestra directed by Todd Stoll, current Vice President of Education at Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) in New York City. On this magical night, Saturday, May 18, audiences can step back in time to a golden era of American music. Tickets are available at vafest.org.   

In its heyday, the Attucks Theatre welcomed top artists who defined American culture: Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway and so many more. Now the joint will be jumping again when the Virginia Arts Festival recreates a Duke Ellington concert in honor of his 125th birthday. 

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born on the cusp of the 20th century —and he would leave a legacy of music that would define that century and beyond. Known for his innovative use of the orchestra, and for creating music that embraced jazz, classical and more, Ellington sought to be an artist “beyond category”—breaking new ground while rooted in tradition.  

His music would transform jazz and popular music and inspire generations of composers and players, including Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and GRAMMY® -winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who reveres the Duke. “He had an understanding of all the elements of American music, its foundation. He understood the fiddle reel, minstrel song, spiritual, work song, American popular song. He understood groove-based music and the gospel traditions. All of these things are in his music. He invented an original form of orchestration and elevated the American orchestra, the big band, to a high standard. He was a tireless student of music.” 

Ellington posthumously received a Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music; during his lifetime he received countless honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, France’s Legion of Honour, and the GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award (to top his 14 GRAMMY®s). His vast output of signature songs includes such classics as “Mood Indigo,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “Satin Doll,” and so many more.  

  
Artists performing in the Attucks Jazz Orchestra on May 18 include:  

Vocals 
Catherine Russell 

Reeds 
James Nesbit 
Stephanie Sanders 
John Winn 
Walter Blanding 
Nii Akwei Adoteye 

Trumpet 
Nathaniel Williford 
Fareed Simpson 
Eric Williams 
Duane Smith 
Todd Stoll 

Trombone 
Jennifer Krupa 
Rashaan Salaam 
Joseph Jefferson 

Rhythm 
John Toomey, piano 
William Ledbetter, bass 
Maria Marmarou, drums  

About Virginia Arts Festival  
The largest performing arts organization in Southeastern Virginia, the Virginia Arts Festival has presented great performers from across the globe since 1997.  Under the direction of Perry Artistic Director Robert W. Cross, renowned artists have performed at the festival including Allison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Lake Street Dive, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell, Martina McBride, Amos Lee, Chris Thile, Leyla McCalla, The Wood Brothers, Shovels & Rope, Kenny Loggins, and Keb’ Mo’. The Festival has also presented Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Olga Kern, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami String Quartet, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Stewart Copeland, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Patti LuPone, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre and Mark Morris Dance Group. The Festival has presented numerous world premieres and new productions of classical music, dance, and theatre from some of today’s most influential composers, choreographers, and playwrights. Van Cliburn Gold Medal-Awarded pianist Olga Kern serves as the Festival’s Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music, and award-winning Broadway music director Rob Fisher serves as the Festival’s Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and American Songbook. Each season, Virginia Arts Festival performances are broadcast nationwide on American Public Radio’s Performance Today. The Festival’s arts education programs reach tens of thousands of schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artist residencies, master classes, and demonstrations.