It has been a long time since we last featured the music of George Gershwin. Years ago the WJO’s then board president, Ed Shinewald, first made the suggestion that we present a Gershwin concert and it has been a successful theme ever since (this is at least our third since 1997).

Gershwin was one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th Century and his music is still performed by jazz and classical ensembles today. Gershwin aspired to more serious composing and worked at developing his craft - his orchestra compositions, two operas, and piano works are a testament to this. One of his most well-known works, Porgy & Bess, was not a commercial success but is now considered one of the most important American operas of the 20th century.

Gershwin died in 1937 at the age of only 38. It’s hard not to imagine that we missed out on a lot of great music that never got written.

For this concert we’ve assembled many of Gershwin’s most beloved and recognizable songs… Fascinating Rhythm, Rhapsody in Blue, Someone to Watch Over Me, Summertime, They Can’t Take That Away from Me and others.

And how can we not have a vocalist for a Gershwin concert? The WJO intends to be a meeting place for jazz artists from across Canada, and so, in that vein, we are thrilled to have Juno-winning vocalist Sonia Johnson​ join us from Montreal. She is a tremendous artist and will add a special touch to our presentation.

*Please note that this is not a Jazz Winnipeg event and as such we cannot answer queries about it.