Heritage Sandy Springs today announced the return of the “Heritage Winter Classics” concert series, held one Sunday evening each month, November through February. Presented by Heritage Sandy Springs, Heritage Winter Classics is an indoor concert series celebrating classical, jazz, and vocal music. The 2016-2017 series lineup is as follows:
- November 13, 2016 – The Bonaventure Quartet
- December 11, 2016 – Joe Gransden with Theresa Hightower
- January 8, 2017 – CoResonance
- February 12, 2017 – SympVibes and Nothin’ But Treble
The series kicks off on November 13, 2016 with The Bonaventure Quartet. What do you get when you combine the gypsy-jazz stylings of Django Reinhardt and the torchy-twangy mezzo delivery of Patsy Cline with a rowdy troupe of Romani-esque instrumentalists? The only correct answer would be The Bonaventure Quartet, an Atlanta-based confederation founded at the turn of the millennium by guitarist/composer Charles Williams. The Bonaventure part of the group’s moniker seems inclusive enough when considering the range of territory covered by The BVQ: le jazz hot and cool, Broadway show tunes, Latin noir, folk ballads, sea shanties, and the occasional twinge of rock ‘n’ roll. Actually, the name refers to the street on which Williams lived for 20 years, in a house just a few table dances away from the Clermont Lounge.
December 11, 2016 welcomes the season with a holiday show performed by Joe Gransden featuring special guest Theresa Hightower. Joe Gransden is the soul of live Jazz and Big Band. Renowned for the hard bop approach of his trumpet, Gransden’s singing voice has been compared to that of Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra. Coming from a family full of musicians, Joe’s introduction to music came early on through his father, a gifted singer and pianist. Theresa Hightower is regarded as one of the great jazz and blues vocalists, actresses, and songwriters of her generation. She is a veteran of concert halls, recordings, cabaret, musical theater, stage, and screen. Both critics and audiences have marveled at her range, vocal phrasing, and exciting live performances, as well as her capacity to embody and bring life to the characters she portrays on screen and on stage. She is one of only a handful of jazz artists, Cleo Laine among them, to win critical success in the fields of both jazz and musical theater.
January 8, 2017 will feature CoResonance, an exciting string quartet that elegantly innovates upon the quartet tradition. As skilled with Bach as with Beyonce, they seamlessly blend classical, jazz, and pop music into an unique, engaging experience – inventively aided by the authentic sounds of a digital rhythm section. Composed of professional musicians that have played the Atlanta music scene for the last 20 years, CoResonance puts on a confident, vibrant show that enhances every event they play. This group has used its effortless musical connection to “resonate” all over Atlanta, and always to rave reviews.
The series will conclude on February 12, 2017 with two a cappella groups from Georgia Tech. Sympathetic Vibrations, aka SympVibes, is an all-male a cappella group founded at Georgia Tech in the Fall of 1997 by James Clawson. They typically have 12-15 active members as well as some who are on co-op rotations or other various diversions. They perform at various events on Tech’s campus, in Atlanta, and across the state of Georgia. They arrange all of their own music (mostly pop and classic rock) and rehearse 3 times weekly. Nothin’ But Treble, Georgia Tech’s premiere all- female a cappella group, was founded in 1998 by Dipika Jain. There are typically 10-12 active members ranging from Freshmen to Graduate students. All of the music in Nothin’ But Treble’s growing repertoire is arranged by a current or former member of the group. Nothin’ But Treble has competed at SoJam (2012) and the ICCA’s (2015), taking home an award for Best Arrangement at the Southeast Regional ICCA competition for “Chandelier”.
Heritage Winter Classics will take place in Heritage Hall on the lower level of the Heritage Sandy Springs administrative at 6110 Blue Stone Road, Sandy Springs, GA. Admission is $5 for members of Heritage Sandy Springs and $10 for non-members. Doors open at 4:00 p.m. with performances from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Cash bar available; no outside food or beverage permitted.
Free parking is available at the Heritage Sandy Springs lot on Blue Stone Road, as well as in designated lots on Sandy Springs Place and in the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church Activities Center on Sandy Springs Circle. Heritage Winter Classics is sponsored by Fulton County Arts & Culture, the Sandy Springs Society, and Babush, Neiman, Kornman, & Johnson. For more information call 404-851-9111 or e-mail events@heritagesandysprings.org.
