Cal Poly Pomona will join in a celebration honoring one of the most beloved and influential vocalists of all time – Ella Fitzgerald.
The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises have planned a year-long Ella 100 centennial throughout 2017 and until April 2018 for the 100th anniversary of Fitzgerald’s birthday, which is on April 25.
The singer will be celebrated across the world with prestigious exhibits, a trove of new music releases and myriad independent tributes and concerts, with the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Music joining in. The department will have two fall 2017 events recognizing the charitable legacy of the 13-time Grammy winner and Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
The Cal Poly Pomona Philharmonic Orchestra with Polytonix Vocal Jazz Ensemble will present a combined concert “Salute to Ella Fitzgerald and All That Jazz” on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.
The Cal Poly Pomona Jazz Band, Jazz Combo and Polytonix Vocal Jazz Ensemble will also present a combined concert “Centenary Celebration of Jazz” featuring the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. These three jazz greats were all born in 1917 and all made major contributions to the world of jazz. The concert will be presented on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m.
Dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she sold more than 40 million albums and received most every honor a performer could dream of winning, including the Kennedy Center Honor (1979), the National Medal of Arts (1987), France’s Commander of Arts and Letters (1990) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1992). In 2007, the United States Postal Service honored Fitzgerald with a postage stamp.
In her six-decade long career, the Queen of Jazz recorded more than 200 albums and roughly 2,000 songs, making her the most recorded female – and the second most recorded – performer in history.
Tickets for both events, which will be held in the Music Recital Hall, are $10 and available online at csupomona.tix.com or at the Dr. Andrew G. Chong Box Office in Building 24, room 188 Monday-Friday from noon to 1 p.m. and one hour before show time. Driving, parking and walking to the recital hall directions can be found on the music department’s website.