***Rescheduled*** Whitworth University Hosts Nine-Time Grammy Nominee Tierney Sutton on Dec. 3
The nine-time Grammy nominee will perform with the Whitworth Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Jared Hall, assistant professor of music, and the Whitworth Symphony Orchestra Strings directed by Philip Baldwin, Whitworth professor of music.
Sutton and the student musicians will premiere an original jazz song set based on Willa Cather’s novel Song of the Lark. The interdisciplinary set, composed by Brent Edstrom, Whitworth’s Amy M. Ryan Endowed Professor, will provide a vehicle for students, faculty and community members to engage with a top-tier performer and learn about one of America’s most important early-modern novelists. Edstrom will record the work with Sutton in Los Angeles in the coming months.
“Tierney Sutton was my first choice from day one of this project,” Edstrom says. “Sutton is one of the most innovative vocalists of our time and has brought new life to many of the standards we know and love. Her work also includes impeccable treatments of popular song and other genres, and I always appreciate the respect and innovation she brings to the songs. I am thrilled to collaborate with her on this project.”
Known for her exquisite voice and imaginative treatments of the Great American Songbook, Sutton is heralded for her abilities as a jazz storyteller and for her ability to use her voice as an instrument. Her 14 recordings as leader have addressed themes such as materialism (Desire, 2009) and the pursuit of happiness (On The Other Side, 2007), as well as paid tribute to the music of Bill Evans (Blue In Green, 2002), Frank Sinatra (Dancing In The Dark, 2004) and pop icon Sting (The Sting Variations, 2016).
When she is not performing, Sutton is in demand as both a studio vocal producer and vocal educator. In 2016, she worked with famed lyric soprano Natalie Dessay for Sony Classics’ Pictures of America and Between Yesterday and Tomorrow.
Sutton taught for over a decade at USC Thornton School of Music and spent six years as the vocal department head at Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena, Calif. She has also taught and mentored some of the finest singers of the new generation including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek.
In addition to the concert, Sutton will host a clinic the evening before for Whitworth students and members of the community. In conjunction with the performance, Guy Reynolds, Ph.D., a Willa Cather scholar, will give a pre-concert lecture sponsored by the Cather Project at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
• Tierney Sutton clinic: Friday, Dec. 2, 5:15 p.m., Cowles Music Center’s Myhre Recital Hall; free.
• Pre-concert lecture by Willa Cather scholar Guy Reynolds: Saturday, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m., Cowles Music Center’s Myhre Recital Hall; free.
• Tierney Sutton performs with the Whitworth Jazz Ensemble and Whitworth Symphony Orchestra Strings: Saturday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Cowles Auditorium. Tickets: $12, general; $10, seniors (62-plus); $5 for students with valid ID, Whitworth students are free with valid ID.
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of more than 2,500 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Brent Edstrom, Amy M. Ryan Endowed Professor, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4590 or bedstrom@whitworth.edu.
Trisha Coder, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.
