NPR's Says You! To Swing With MHC Big Band
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Allison Gillis
(413) 538-2030
South Hadley, Mass. -- Says You!, the NPR quiz show, has chosen the Mount Holyoke College Big Band, under the direction of Mark Gionfriddo, as their musical guests for the show's taping on campus, Sunday September 10.
The Mount Holyoke College Big Band, founded in the spring of 1998, is one of three jazz ensembles under the direction of pianist Mark Gionfriddo, the College's director of jazz ensembles. The Big Band studies and performs classic and contemporary swing music and consists of MHC and Five College students plus community members. First chair players in the band also play in the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a select small combo. Singers from the 24-member Vocal Jazz Ensemble often are featured soloists with both instrumental jazz groups.
Says You!, the very popular NPR quiz show, will tape two programs before a live audience on Sunday, September 10, at 2 pm at Chapin Auditorium in Mary Woolley Hall on the Mount Holyoke College campus.
Tickets are available through the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center Box Office: 413-545-2511 or 800-999-UMASS or www.umass.edu/fac/.
Presented by WFCR, the event is sponsored by Merriam-Webster, the Valley Advocate, and Mount Holyoke College.
The Mount Holyoke College Big Band comes off the success of The Big Broadcast! in March, when as one of the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College, it helped re-create and present a radio variety show typical of the swing era. The Big Broadcast! featured popular tunes including music by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.