UAH opens 2024 Constellation Concert Series with ‘Forever Young’ jazz on Friday, Jan. 26

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) opens its 2024 Constellation Concert Series with “Forever Young,” featuring Karen Young & Her Gentlemen of Jazz, on Friday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Morton Hall Black Box Theatre Lounge on the campus of UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System.

Young, a soprano, is a voice instructor in the Department of Music in the UAH College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Young and players from the UAH jazz faculty will preview the release of their upcoming CD of jazz standards.

“I will be performing a selection of jazz favorites in various styles, including ballads, swing and Latin,” Young says. “My ‘Gentlemen’ include a pianist, guitarist, drummer, up-right bassist, trombonist, saxophonist and trumpeter. We will provide a relaxed lounge environment for our guests to unwind and enjoy some wonderful music!”

The performance is presented by the UAH Constellation Concert Series and UAH Theatre.

“The UAH Constellation Concert Series engages our university community and the North Alabama region through diverse and non-traditional chamber music experiences, presented to entertain and educate Tennessee Valley concertgoers,” says Ron Guthrie, UAH’s performing arts operations coordinator.

Along with the jazz concert, the spring 2024 series will celebrate Black History Month in February in collaboration with the UAH Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and highlight the talents of UAH faculty members in March.

“Songs of Love, Sorrow, Hope and Healing” will showcase soprano Dr. Phyllis Lewis-Hale on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. She will perform Afro-Creole folk songs and Negro spirituals.

Lewis-Hale is an instructor of music and the director of the Opera/Musical Theatre Workshop at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. Also on Feb. 15, she will present a free master class open to the public from 9:40 to 10:50 a.m. with singers from UAH and Alabama A&M University.

The UAH Faculty Recital on Thursday, March 21, will feature Ken Ortlepp on horn and Guthrie on piano. They will perform selections from the Romantic chamber repertoire.

Concert tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors. Only debit or credit cards will be taken; no cash will be accepted at the door. The concerts also will be livestreamed; access is $10.

For more information on the UAH Constellation Concert Series, visit uah.edu/music/events.