Through a grant from the Lee County Arts Council a jazz apprentice will be selected to play with the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, which is directed by Gregg Gelb. The jazz apprentice will be expected to participate in ten events with the orchestra, most of which will be Thursday evening rehearsals in Sanford and Pittsboro and some performances either at the Temple Theatre or at Depot Park in Sanford. Two apprenticeships will be offered and each will include a $250 stipend.

In order to be considered for the Apprenticeship, the student must be between the ages of 15 – 20, and be a resident of Lee County. The student can either be a High School or Community College student and must be recommended by a music teacher. All interested students must first have the recommending teacher e-mail Director Dr. Gregg Gelb at dr.ggelb@gmail.com for an audition appointment. Auditions will take place between Feb. 7 – 14. One vocalist and one instrumentalist will be chosen.

Calls for auditions are now being accepted.

valentine-ad

This Valentine’s Day have saxophonist Gregg Gelb, as a soloist or with accompaniment, play
“My Funny Valentine” or other love tunes of your choice for you and your Valentine.
For rates and to schedule time and place contact Gregg at dr.ggelb@gmail.com

All funds go to support the Heart of Carolina Jazz Society

Our Second Annual big band dance is coming up this March 20 at the new Carolina Trace Club house.  Performing for the dance will be the 20 piece Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra with vocalists, Don Nedza, Kathy Gelb, Peggy Taphorn, Iris Jordan, and Trish Childress.

Advanced Tickets are now on sale for the

2nd ANNUAL DANCE
“Swing Into Spring”
featuring The Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, directed by

Gregg Gelb
with special guest vocalists

Saturday, March 20, 2010
7pm – 10pm
Heavy Hors d’ oeuvres are included in the price of the ticket
Alcohol purchased separately

Carolina Trace Clubhouse
Sanford, NC

$35 per person
$30 per person for 2009-10 contributors to the Heart of  Carolina Jazz Society
(if purchased in advance by March 10)
After March 10 tickets are $40 per person for non-members and $35 for members
Tickets can be purchased by cash, check, or credit card.

Mail checks to

Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra

PO Box 253

Sanford, NC 27330

Be sure to include your address. We will send you your tickets.

And in the meantime, we have a forum set up here at our website where we want everyone to share their personal stories about their thoughts and experiences of Big Band Music. The Big bands were certainly at their most popular stage during the 1930’s and 1940’s but the genre still remains active up to the present and no doubt will continue for many years to come.   Please enter your thoughts with a post at the forum but first you must register which can be done rather easily in the bottom left hand corner of this page (register)

The Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, directed by Gregg Gelb, and  featuring guest artists Nelson Delgado, Ramon Ortiz, Pako Santiago, and Guillo Carias performed a Latin Jazz Big Band concert at the Temple Theatre in Sanford, NC on Nov. 6th.  This excellent video presentation was made by Rodrigo Dorfmann and it shows highlights from the concert, including the musical arrangement that is a tribute to Tito Puente, “King of the Timbales.”

Preceding the concert, Gregg and the Jazz Orchestra held numerous events in the surrounding region to build up interest and support for the concert.  Please visit our Outreach page to see the details.  The video, concert and outreach activities were made possible by a grant from the NC State Arts Council and support from contributions.

Also, More of the concert was videotaped and reported on by ONDA CAROLINA

On Oct 2, 2009, The Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra performed with the outstanding vocalist Marlen VerPlanck.  She was in top form - the audience loved the concert.  Another thing that was special were the fantastic arrangements we played by Marlene’s late husband , Billy VerPlanck.

The Heart of Carolina Jazz Society and Orchestra, a non-profit organization I started in 1990 when I was the Visiting Artist at CCCC, has set our next season of fine jazz concerts and outreach programs in Sanford and we hope you can participate in them through your attendance and/or support. They are listed below and at our website http://www.carolinajazz.com. However, the main reason for this letter is that our Jazz Society is now searching for new board members and new corporate sponsors.

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