Duke Ellington’s timeless Nutcracker Suite rendition, fashioned after the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky masterpiece, returns to Castleton Sunday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.
The Castleton in Performance (CiP) concert will be led by award-winning composer and conductor Miho Hazama and her 16-piece jazz orchestra, the Miho Hazama D.C. Collective Big Band. The first half of the concert will feature Hazama’s own compositions and arrangements, which have attracted international attention, followed by the holiday favorite Nutcracker Suite. The New York Times writes that Hazama’s music displays, “an impressive range of dynamics, sonorities and rhythms,” and All Bout Jazz writes that Hazama’s “boldly organic and singularly exciting collective is a breath of fresh air. Her uncanny ability to remain intellectually stimulating and vibrantly spirited is what makes her work singularly innovative.” Tickets prices for this CiP concert are $15 to $35, and the performance will be held in the Theatre House at Castleton (663 Castleton View Road, Castleton, Va.), an intimate, state-of-the-art 140-seat proscenium theatre. Call Connie Payne at 540.937.3454 for more information and visit www.CastletonFestival.org to purchase tickets.
“It’s been three years since I started collaborating with musicians in Washington, D.C., and I have always had a great time doing so,” said Hazama. With her earlier big band group, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, “we also did a couple of important premieres to dedicate the 50th anniversary of Herbie Hancock’s masterpiece album Maiden Voyage, as well as Thelonious Monk’s centennial year.” During the concert, Hazama will conduct some of the music from these repertoires, as well as her original music composed for big band. The concert will include Hancock’s Dolphin Dance and Monk’s Hackensack, both arranged by Hazama, and will also include Spiral Steps, Somnambulant, and Cityscape, which are Hazama’s original compositions. The concert will end with the long-awaited Nutcracker Suite.
The Tokyo-born composer ranks as one of New York’s most astounding young talents, lauded in Downbeat as one of “25 for the Future.” Hazama’s work with the New York Jazzharmonic and members of the New York City Ballet has placed her firmly on the world stage. As the 2015 recipient of the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize, she developed her signature ensemble “m_unit.” Now with two full length releases on Universal Music Japan/Sunnyside Records, Hazama has written for and expertly showcased the abilities of artists such as Joshua Redman, Stefon Harris, and Steve Wilson. Critics and music fans alike have praised her recordings and performances, and Hazama has been featured in such influential publications as Downbeat, JazzTimes, NPR, The New York Times, CD Journal, and many more.
Among others, Hazama has composed for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Nobuya Sugawa, Ashley Bouder Project Ballet Company, and the YAMAHA Symphonic Band. In 2017, she became the composer-in-residence of the Siena Wind Orchestra, and also serves as the associate artistic director of the New York Jazzharmonic. Hazama has arranged and orchestrated many ensembles for concerts, recordings, television, and film, including Metropole Orkest, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vince Mendoza, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Shiro Sagisu. As a conductor, she has worked with Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orkest Big Band, and Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, among others.
Hazama received the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award in 2011, was the 2014 Idemitsu Music Award recipient, and received the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize in 2015. She is a graduate of the Kunitachi College of Music and received a master’s degree in jazz composition from the Manhattan School of Music. Hazama was honored by the Scholarship Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs.
“Miho is an incredible musician, and the Nutcracker Suite is the perfect prelude to the holiday season,” said Castleton CEO and Artistic Director Dietlinde Turban Maazel. In 1997, she and her late husband, Maestro Lorin Maazel, created the Castleton Theatre House, one of the most exquisite performance spaces in the world.
Castleton is ideally suited for a weekend trip and a variety of accommodations are available on the idyllic grounds of Castleton Farms. Cottage and home rates begin at $100/night and include access to amenities such as the spa (large heated lap pool, Turkish steam room, Finnish sauna), petting zoo, six miles of hiking trails, and tennis courts. To inquire about booking, please contact Connie Payne at 540.577.8820 or [email protected].
The grounds of Castleton Farms have been home to a prestigious performance series since 1997, when the late Maestro Lorin Maazel inaugurated the Theatre House, a “mini-Globe” European-style pocket theatre with unparalleled acoustics. Since then, CiP has given audiences in Rappahannock County multicultural experiences of the highest caliber bringing internationally acclaimed artists into our own backyard. Artists have included Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman, José Carreras, Emanuel Ax, Sir James Galway, Gil Shaham, the Paris Piano Trio, Mariachi Los Camperos Group, Chinese traditional soloists Wu Man and Ma Xiaohui, classical guitarists Pepe Romero and Berta Rojas, Indian dance companies, and famous actors such as Alec Baldwin and Claire Bloom.
In 2009, the late Maestro Maazel and his wife, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, established the Castleton Festival, a combination of music festival and summer academy for young artists. During this period, Dietlinde developed a wildly popular acting training studio for opera singers. Ranked by The New York Times as one of the top 10 festivals in the country, the Castleton Festival formed an educational partnership with Wynton Marsalis, his Summer Jazz Academy, in 2015. The monthly CiP (Castleton in Performance) events continue throughout the year as well as the Educational Community Outreach programming that furthers Castleton’s mission of nurturing the arts in the lives of children through in-school programs.
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