Howard Payne University’s Jazz Orchestra will present music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite – with a unique twist – on Sunday, December 8, at 6 p.m., at San Saba’s First Baptist Church. The community is welcome to attend this free event.

Following performances on the HPU campus, the Jazz Orchestra is pleased to help usher in the holiday season in the San Saba community. For those unable to attend, live streaming of the event will be available at www.watchfbc.org.

“These performances will really be extraordinary in that we will present Duke Ellington’s 1960 version of the Tchaikovsky classic,” said Stephen Goacher, professor of music and director of the orchestra.

In 1892, Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky composed the ballet The Nutcracker, based on a play by Alexander Dumas. Tchaikovsky immediately arranged “Opus 71a,” eight of the original compositions from the ballet, into an orchestral collection of “hits.”

“These melodies are considered among the most beautiful and memorable of the entire 19th century,” said Goacher. “The New York City Ballet gave its first annual performance of The Nutcracker in 1954. Beginning in the 1960s, the tradition of performing the ballet at Christmas spread to the rest of the United States. “

In 1960, Duke Ellington, already well known for composing extended works in the jazz idiom, began adapting and arranging Tchaikovsky’s popular Nutcracker Suite for the Ellington Orchestra. This was his first adaptation of extended music from other composers.

San Saba’s First Baptist Church is located at 208 W. Wallace Street. For more information, call (325) 372-5761.