About JAM Orchestra
The JAM Orchestra is a unique ensemble that performs symphonic music from a diverse canon of repertoire, ranging from classical and swing music to Broadway and film scores. Aiming to perform each work with the utmost musical integrity, JAM Orchestra places a focus on using the original orchestrations and instrumentation, the way they were meant to be heard. Program themes are curated and repertoire is carefully selected so that each concert provides a balance of familiar and unfamiliar music, an array of different musical styles, and collaboration with different local Chicago artists.
Previous programs have included Opera and Broadway music with baritone Nathan Gunn, the music of Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle, the ballets of Copland and Shchedrin, the music of Stephen Sondheim, Dr. Seuss at the Opera, the music of Alan Menken, Holiday Concerts featuring the Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite, songs from Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, and holiday music from film and television across the decades; as well as collaborations with Imprint Choir, Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, Blank Theatre Company and dozens of soloists.
The JAM Orchestra has also found a niche presenting musical theatre productions with full orchestra including the “Staged Concert” series with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre & School for the Performing Arts for The Music Man, Mary Poppins and Oliver!, Les Misérables and Hairspray with Uptown Music Theatre of Highland Park, and productions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Ragtime.
The JAM Orchestra was founded in 2018 and aims to put a new spin on the “pops orchestra” model by not only performing works with original orchestrations, but also by connecting these works to other genres of music as well as exploring lesser-known works and composers. Program themes are curated and repertoire is carefully selected so that each concert provides a balance of familiar and unfamiliar music, an array of different musical styles, and collaboration with different local Chicago artists. The musicians of the JAM Orchestra are selected for their versatility of musical styles, technical abilities, and complete musicianship. They are some of the finest musicians in the Chicago area and can be heard in orchestras, chamber ensembles, big bands, pit orchestras, and jazz clubs all over the city. Whether performing a Beethoven symphony, Stravinsky ballet, Nelson Riddle chart, Robert Russell Bennett orchestration, or Bernard Herrmann score, the JAM Orchestra seeks to create connections across the musical spectrum and introduce audiences to the brilliance of these composers, arrangers, and orchestrators.
For an in-depth look at our previous concerts, check out our Concert Archive.