Gershwin to Bernstein: HMI Big Band

American musical theater meets contemporary big-band arranging in a program built around the music of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. The Henry Mancini Institute Big Band performs Tuesday, February 23 at Newman Recital Hall as part of the Frost School of Music’s 2026-2027 season. The program pairs Bill Potts’ Porgy and Bess suite with a newly created West Side Story suite arranged by members of the Studio Jazz Writing program. Potts’ orchestration reframes Gershwin’s familiar themes through the colors and rhythmic flexibility of a jazz ensemble, while the new West Side Story arrangements give Frost student composers the opportunity to reinterpret Bernstein’s score through a contemporary big-band lens. Together, the works place established American repertoire in dialogue with emerging arranging voices. Admission is free.