Jazz fans and music lovers will be treated to an unprecedented event this summer at Red Deer Symphony Orchestra’s Evening of Jazz at the Lake, which will be held on Aug. 15th beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Centennial Park in Sylvan Lake.

The event is intended to be a fundraising concert, produced by the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra (RDSO), and it will feature world-class jazz artists including Dan Brubeck Trio, Eric Allison and Cheryl Fisher.

“An event of this nature and calibre has never been done in Central Alberta before,” said Chandra Kastern, executive director with RDSO.

“The programming and content of the performance is a fresh and welcome challenge for the musicians, all of whom are excited to be performing with guest artists that are renowned jazz musicians.”

While RDSO has done a limited number of educational performances outside of Red Deer, it has never put on a full concert outside of the City and has not performed at Sylvan Lake before.

“This is an incredible logistical undertaking for the core orchestra to perform outdoors with open water on one side,” Kastern explains. “The aesthetic quality of the setting is intended to match the quality of any RDSO performance, meaning that it will be excellent and beautiful.”

This third concert in Jazz at the Lake’s 2015 concert series is possible thanks to the working partnership between RDSO and Jazz at the Lake Festival Society, two arts-centred, non profit organizations.

“This will be the first time that Jazz at the Lake and RDSO have worked together, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with them for this concert,” says Eric Allison, board president for Jazz at the Lake Festival Society.

“This unique partnership means the audience will be treated to orchestral arrangements of jazz compositions by Dave and Iola Brubeck, parents of Dan Brubeck,” Allison explains. Brubeck’s Trio includes Adam Thomas on bass and vocals and Tony Foster on piano, and they will be joined at the concert by Allison and Fisher, who, “Will also be performing one of her original compositions with the orchestra, arranged for her by Claude Lapalme, RDSO music director and conductor.”

With its beautiful venue and incredible musical score, Red Deer Symphony Orchestra’s Evening of Jazz at the Lake promises to be a historic concert event this season.

“We’re looking forward to everything about this concert,” says Allison. “Plus, presenting this unique concert on the weekend that Jazz at the Lake is traditionally offered allows us to give our audience of 12 consecutive years a brand new, exciting musical experience.”

Tickets and complete concert details are available at www.rdso.ca or www.jazzatthelake.com.

-Weber