Brian Stokes Mitchell to Perform in Discover Ellington at Strathmore

Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will perform with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Brian Stokes Mitchell Sings Ellington American Songbook, as part of the Discover Ellington festival at the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday, February 17 at 8pm.

The program — conducted by David Baker and also featuring singer Julia Nixon and tap dancers the Manzari Brothers — will feature selections from the Ellington musicals Sophisticated Ladies, Play On and Queenie Pie.

Additional programming in the Discover Ellington festival — which runs throughout the month of February — will include Ellington Standards by the Chris Vadala Trio (February 3); a lecture/demonstration by Rusty Hassan (February 13); pianist Robert Glasper’s Mostly Ellington (February 16); Channeling Duke Ellington, presented by the Levine School of Music (February 17); a panel discussion with John Edward Hasse, Davey Yarborough, David Schiff, and Eliot Pfanstiehl (February 18); the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra’s Big Band Ellington: Duke Goes Latin (February 18); Ellington: A Sacred Concert featuring the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir, and the Manzari Brothers (February 19); and a free, all-day celebration of live multi-media performances, participatory concerts and workshops entitled Discover Strathmore: Duke Ellington (February 20).

Click here for more information and Discover Ellington tickets.