The Auditorium Theatre will host its annual Fall Gala, sponsored by The Pasquinelli Family Foundation, on Saturday, November 21. This year, we are celebrating The Billy Strayhorn Festival, proudly curated and presented by the Auditorium in honor of what would have been the jazz legend's 100th birthday.
The gala performance of Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn on November 21 on the Auditorium Theatre stage is the culminating performance and festival finale of the three-month long city-wide festival. Lush Life is under the musical direction of Bruce Mayhall Rastrelli, and features Broadway star Darius de Haas and local favorite Joan Curto with Grammy Award winner Alan Broadbent on piano, the Auditorium's Too Hot to Handel Orchestra, a 30-voice all-male choir, and The Joel Hall Dancers.
Please join us for the Gala Celebration! We want to share this finale with you because the festival is happening only with your generous support of the Auditorium Theatre.
Billy Strayhorn was one of the greatest jazz composers America has produced, but he remains overshadowed by his brilliant employer, Duke Ellington. [Strayhorn] penned scores that are revered around the world, but masterpieces such as Lush Life and Take the “A” Train are far more famous than the man who wrote them. He showed courage in coming out as a gay man in an era when few artists of his stature did, but he paid dearly for that heroic stance.
–-Howard Reich, Chicago TribuneFor our gala evening, cocktails and dinner begin at 5pm at the Hilton Chicago. As a very special treat, we’ll enjoy dinner music from The Orbert Davis & Rich Daniels Quintet playing a program to honor the Strayhorn legacy.
After dinner, we’ll move to the Auditorium Theatre for the 8pm performance of Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn, and enjoy a champagne intermission together.
Gala Celebration sponsored by The Pasquinelli Family Foundation
Honorary Chairs Alyce and Rochelle Claerbaut
Event Chairs Bruce Bachmann, Sidney and Sondra Berman Epstein, Dave Samber and Darrell Windle
We hope to see you there! Gala Tickets start at $500 and Tables start at $5,000. All include a ticket to the Lush Life performance. Gala proceeds benefit the Auditorium Theatre.
Concert only tickets are available through AuditoriumTheatre.org or by calling 312.341.2300.
