Charleston Jazz Orchestra presents PORGY & BESS at Charleston Jazz Orchestra at Charleston Music Hall

CJO’s third show of its 2013 Season will surely be the most iconic of the year and perhaps of the band’s existence. America’s folk opera, Porgy and Bess, premiered in 1935, first in Boston, then in New York on Broadway, wrought with controversy. The original operatic production featured music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. The opera was based on the original novel by Charleston native, DuBose Heyward, entitled Porgy, and the subsequent play of the same title co-written by his wife Dorothy Heyward, telling the story of not only one African-American man by the name of Porgy, but of the Gullah-Geechee culture of the Lowcountry. The story is distinctly American and uniquely Charleston’s. CJO’s production of this treasure will feature world premiere arrangements commissioned by the CJO and reimagined exclusively for Charleston’s resident big band by CJO’s lead...

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CJO’s third show of its 2013 Season will surely be the most iconic of the year and perhaps of the band’s existence. America’s folk opera, Porgy and Bess, premiered in 1935, first in Boston, then in New York on Broadway, wrought with controversy. The original operatic production featured music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. The opera was based on the original novel by Charleston native, DuBose Heyward, entitled Porgy, and the subsequent play of the same title co-written by his wife Dorothy Heyward, telling the story of not only one African-American man by the name of Porgy, but of the Gullah-Geechee culture of the Lowcountry. The story is distinctly American and uniquely Charleston’s. CJO’s production of this treasure will feature world premiere arrangements commissioned by the CJO and reimagined exclusively for Charleston’s resident big band by CJO’s lead
alto saxophonist and local composer and arranger, Robert Lewis. The audience can expect to hear instrumental and vocal selections of the standard repertoire and lesser-known compositions, including “My Man’s Gone Now,” “Summertime,” “I Loves You Porgy,” and “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’.” Vocalists for the evening will be Maestro Charlton
Singleton and Leah Suárez, who will return to the stage, making her first appearance for the band’s fifth anniversary season.

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