An orchestra walks into a jazz club
October 18 & 19, 2025
esperanza spalding
Overview
It’s a fabulous night of orchestra-meets-jazz with headliner—and Portland’s own—esperanza spalding: bassist, singer, songwriter, composer, and Grammy Award winner performing her own songs with arrangements that showcase the expanded forces of the orchestra. Among esperanza’s heroes is jazz icon and multi-Grammy Award winner Wayne Shorter, whose music you’ll also enjoy on this program, including Gaia, a work for vocals, jazz quartet, and orchestra co-written with spalding.
About the Show
Info
This concert is part of Classical Series A, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series.
Here's a taste of what's to come
Esperanza Spalding's Unique Perspective on Music
"Alright y'all, what do we need from music tonight?"
"Alright y’all,what do we need from music tonight?” she asks. It’s 9:00 P.M. and the studio at Harvard’s ArtLab is lit only by lamps. There’s an oval of students on chairs and floor cushions in the center, and in the corner, a tapestry-covered altar with sage and a black votive candle. Clad in a denim jumpsuit and cross-legged next to a student with a keytar is professor of the practice of music and five-time Grammy-winning musician esperanza spalding. She keeps her name uncapitalized and drops the “professor” title, so to students, she’s esperanza.
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