April 27, 2017 – Swing dance in a cool club to big band hits – and support great music in our public schools!
Spring Swing features Nevada Union High School’s award-winning Jazz Band from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 28, at cozy 151 Union Square, at 151 Mill St., in downtown Grass Valley. Featured hits will include “C Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Bart Howard and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” by Count Basie.
Cost is $25 in advance, $30 at the door; buy tickets from a band student, BrownPaperTickets.com or call (530) 205-9513. The event includes home-made appetizers and silent auction items such as yoga and belly dancing classes at Yoga Utopia and gift certificates to Lefty’s Grill.
Step down into the historic brick-and-wood space at 151 Union Square to enter an intimate club atmosphere that evokes a speakeasy of the 1920s. The no-host bar offers 18 crafted beers on tap, plus wine, tea and sodas.
Proceeds from this event support Nevada Union’s Instrumental Music Program. About 60 young people immerse themselves in music and movement through marching band, symphonic band, jazz band and color guard each year at NU. In addition to offering killer concerts of their own, their talent enhances football, basketball, theater and other events at the school and around town. Most of these students would have no access to a musical education without its being offered in the public schools.
Research proves that learning to play a musical instrument nurtures a child’s developing brain. Children who learn music have better reading skills, verbal memory, abstract thinking and executive functions; and they score higher on intelligence tests.
Yet declining local enrollment and state budget cuts mean music classes at the high school receive scant funding. Parent-hosted events like Spring Swing raise money to pay for instrument repair, new music and transportation to fun competitions that help motivate the students.
Your support of the band helps keep culture alive in western Nevada County! To support the band in other ways – including to donate money or silent auction items – call (530) 575-6132.