Swing in the Holidays with WFIT Youth Jazz Concert

– WFIT 89.5FM, a service of Florida Tech, presents its annual Holiday Concert on Friday, December 2, 7:30 p.m., in Florida Tech’s Gleason Performing Arts
Center. Joining Sonny LaRosa and America’s Youngest Jazz Band will be members of the Brevard Symphony Youth Orchestra (BSYO). Admission is $15 for WFIT
members, $18 for potential members, $20 at the door and $5 for students/children.

Jazz trumpet player Sonny LaRosa toured the country with jazz bands during the early days of swing music. A veteran of 60 years playing jazz, he has
developed what is known as America’s Youngest Jazz Band. The 23-piece band of 7 to 13 year olds offers full sax, brass, and rhythm sections with vocalists
reminiscent of the Big Band Era.

LaRosa’s award-winning “Kids” have performed all over the world. They took honors at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where they were
the youngest jazz band ever invited to perform. They just returned from performing at the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi. Nat Hentoff, renowned
writer for the Village Voice, Washington Post and Jazz Times, wrote, “They jolted me out of my misconceptions; they had the impact of the 1950s Basie
Band.”

The BSYO begins its 22nd season with 193 talented young musicians, representing the area’s public, private and home schools. Participants, aged 6 to18,
earn admittance through a competitive audition. They train with professional musicians and conductors and expand their skills in classical music. They may
present their skills as a full orchestra or as an ensemble group in front of an audience, as they will at WFIT’s upcoming Holiday concert.

The Brevard Symphony Orchestra’s ever-popular Visual Violins will be on display in Gleason’s lobby on concert night. The creative display pieces were
painted by Nancy Dillen, Marg Kuhl, Grace Leal, Sandy Johnson, Susan Martin, Jamie Meagher, Sigi Oberlaender and Frits Van Eeden. Join WFIT for an evening
of unsurpassed youth talent. Call 321-674-8950.