PSO January 31, 2026 Annual Family Concert "Swinging Valentines"

Contact: Mark Miller (908-561-5140)

Website: www.plainfieldsymphony.org

Email:info@plainfieldsymphony.org

We begin the new year with our annual free family concert, “Swinging Valentines,” on January 31, 2026, at 3 PM, featuring an array of pieces that will evoke the Big Band Era and celebrate the unique sounds and melodies characteristic of American music. Maestro Charles Prince will lead the orchestra at a new venue, The Charles and Anna Booker School, 730 Central Street, Plainfield, NJ.

Satchmo! (A Tribute to Louis Armstrong), arranged by Ted Ricketts, pays homage to the great New Orleans-born jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and influential figure in jazz history who taught us all how to swing. Featured are four great tunes made famous by Satchmo: “What a Wonderful World,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “St. Louis Blues” and “Hello Dolly.”

Duke Ellington was a pioneering jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader, famous for his innovative "big band" sound and elevating jazz to a sophisticated art form. In his A Tribute to the Duke, master arranger Marty Gold brings us his setting of Ellington's three best-known works: “Caravan,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” and “Sophisticated Lady.”

In A Salute to the Big Bands, arranger Calvin Custer harkens back to the heyday of the Big Band era with the music of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and others. This medley of the big hits from that time includes "April in Paris," "Serenade in Blue," "Sing, Sing, Sing," "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and more! 

Go Tell It on the Mountain is a favorite traditional Christmas spiritual. This arrangement by Robert Sterling presents an exhilarating gospel-swing rendition.

George Gerhwin’s An American in Paris Suite is a condensed version by John Whitney. The original jazz-influenced symphonic poem was inspired by the time that Gershwin had spent in Paris and evokes the sights and energy of the French capital during the decade of the 1920s.

Afro-American Symphony is a 1930 composition by William Grant Still, the first symphony written by an African American. It combines traditional symphonic form with blues progressions and rhythms that were characteristic of popular African American music at the time. The third movement “Scherzo” will be performed.