Jeffrey Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra Lights Up Kennedy Center Celebration

Ensemble performs for the 22nd consecutive year

Jeffrey Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra was once again in the spotlight last weekend (Dec. 5) when it served as the house band at the annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. Lindberg, who also serves as professor of music as well as conductor of the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and The College of Wooster Jazz Ensemble, formed the Chicago Jazz Orchestra in 1978, and the ensemble has been part of the Kennedy Center celebration for the past 22 years.

Among the honorees this year was Oprah Winfrey, who received the award for Exemplary Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts. Also honored prior to the performance were musician-songwriters Paul McCartney and Merle Haggard, dancer-choreographer Bill T. Jones, and composer-lyricist Jerry Herman, at a White House reception hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

One of the highlights of the evening was an impromptu performance by “Glee” star Matthew Morrison, who joined the orchestra for a rendition of Lerner and Lowe’s “On a Street Where You Live” from “My Fair Lady.”

Founded by Lindberg and the late Steve Jensen, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, consists of Chicago’s top musicians. It is Windy City’s oldest professional jazz orchestra in continuous operation and one of the oldest jazz repertory orchestras in the country. The Orchestra’s repertoire includes the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Oliver Nelson, and Ray Charles.