Artie Shaw Orchestra concert in New Jersey November 19

The Artie Shaw Orchestra, one of the most compelling big-bands ever, returns to Centenary Stage Company (CSC) in Hackettstown, NJ for a one-night-only concert on Saturday, November 19^th  at 8 PM in The Whitney Chapel on campus of Centenary College. 

Dubbed “the king of swing” after his hit, Begin the Beguine, Artie Shaw (Photo above) was thereafter renown for his innovative combination of instruments.  This power-house big band has accompanied the likes of Tony Bennett, Jack Jones and Buddy DeFranco.   The band was featured at the Newport Jazz Festival, and they have toured worldwide.  The orchestra is currently under the direction of clarinetist Matt Koza  and will play many of the original arrangements that made the orchestra so popular in the 40’s and 50’s. On the eve of America's entry into World War II, TIME magazine reported that to the German masses the United States meant "sky-scrapers, Clark Gable, and Artie Shaw."  Some 42 years after that, in December  l983, Artie Shaw made a brief return to the bandstand, after thirty years away from music, to launch this latest (and still touring) orchestra at the newly refurbished Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York.

 “There's nothing like it,” said Matt Koza, director of the orchestra said,“…to stand in front of the band, to play the music, to be surrounded by the full sound of the brass and the rhythm section, it’s an unparalleled experience.”

Tickets for the Artie Shaw Orchestra can be purchased at www.centenarystageco.org or by calling the CSC Box Office at (908)979-0900. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 day of show. 

The Nov 19^th  performance of the Artie Shaw Orchestra is made possible in part through the support of the Hackettstown Trading Post.   Jazz events at CSC are spearheaded by CSC Board Chairman Ed Coyne and Coyne Enterprises.   

The Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit performing arts series, in residence at Centenary College, dedicated to serving as a cultural resource for audiences of the Skylands region with professional music, theatre and dance events and arts education programs throughout the year.    All programs at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible in part through the visionary support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and CSC members and sponsors, including CSC Premiere Sponsors Heath Village and Fulton Bank (formerly Skylands Community Bank), as well as Hackettstown Regional Medical Center and Mama’s and Café Baci. ##