Rainbow Band Invited to Perform at 11th Annual Neshaminy High School Jazz Festival in PA on May 3

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	Christine Fawson
	Alisa Miles

BOSTON, April 17, 2002 — The Berklee College of Music Rainbow Band, one of the college's premier student big bands, will present a concert in honor of Duke Ellington's 102nd birthday on Tuesday, April 23, 2002. Under the direction of Professor Phil Wilson, the band will feature vocalist Alisa Miles and trumpeter/vocalist Christine Fawson, as well as Argentine composers Nicolas Sorin and Tomas Merello. The event is at 8:15 p.m. at the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, in Boston. Tickets are $5.00 — $2.00 for seniors — and are available, cash only, at the BPC box office, 617-747-2261.

The Rainbow Band will celebrate Duke Ellington's 102nd birthday, which would have been April 29, by playing several of the composer's extended works. The evening will also feature premiere performances of two new works — "Spanish Harlem, 3:00 a.m." by Nicolas Sorin, and "Frustango" by Tomas Merello.

Some of the Berklee alumni who played with the Rainbow Band over the past 35 years include Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, John Scofield, Ernie Watts, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Bill Pierce. Five years ago, Phil Wilson established a scholarship in his name to provide opportunities for some of the band's extraordinary performers.

Comprised of students from many countries, the Berklee Rainbow Band has been invited to perform in May at the 11th Annual Neshaminy High School Jazz Festival in Longhorne, PA.

Phil Wilson was lead trombone player in Woody Herman's now-famous 1960's band lineup, playing on and contributing arrangements to nine Woody Herman albums. Wilson joined the Berklee College of Music faculty in September 1965 and has been an active part of the evolution of Berklee into an internationally acclaimed institution. He has been among the key faculty members who developed new approaches to brass technique and has also made significant contributions to the arranging curriculum. Wilson has performed with Louis Armstrong, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Woody Herman, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, as well as the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Big Band (Germany), Hanover Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orchestra (the Netherlands), and NDR Big Band (Hamburg, Germany). He has recorded for the Boston Pops, RCA, Polydor, Capri, Columbia, Famous Door, Freeform, Seaside, and SESAC. Wilson appeared last November on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" on National Public Radio.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world's largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multi-cultural enrollment of more than 3,400 students, 30 percent of whom are international. The college's alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.

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For more information, or for JPEG photos of Alisa Miles, Christine Fawson, or Phil Wilson, please contact:

Toni Ballard
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617-747-2247
tballard@berklee.edu