About the Distinguished Artists Series
28th Season!

Launched with the opening of Alumni Hall in 1991, the USNA Distinguished Artist Series has presented the world’s finest classical and cultural performers to the Academy with an eclectic mix of Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, and diverse national ensembles as part of a comprehensive program developed by the Naval Academy’s Senior Leadership to enrich the education of midshipmen through exposure and involvement with fine arts. 

Over the past 27 years, we have hosted 123 world-class performances to include the National Ensemble of Republic of Guinea, Bamberg Symphony, Danish National Radio Symphony, Bolshoi Symphony, Kirov Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Central Ballet of China, Moscow Virtuosi, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Georgian State Dance Company, London City Opera, Ballet de L’Opera de Bordeaux, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Ballet, Venice Baroque Orchestra, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Krasnoyarsk Dance Company of Siberia, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Ballet, Royal Drummers of Burundi, Hamburg Symphony, Ballet Folklórico de México, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and Band of Coldstream Guards, Warsaw Philharmonic, Dublin Philharmonic, Orquestra de Sao Paulo, Virsky Ukrainian Dancers, Merchants of Bollywood, Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, German State Philharmonic, and the National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China to name only a few.

The existence of this flagship cultural program at the Naval Academy has long symbolized an institutional commitment to the educational role of the fine arts and the importance of cultural awareness – and we are thrilled to present our best season yet!

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The Soul Rebels
Friday, October 19, 2018
7:00 PM, Alumni Hall

The New Sound of New Orleans Featuring The Soul Rebels, Christian Scott and Tonya Boyd-Cannon

On tour for the first time, The Soul Rebels (8-piece brass band), Christian Scott (trumpet), and Tonya Boyd-Cannon (2015 finalist on NBC’s The Voice) honor the legacy of their musical heritage and highlight the modern vibrancy of New Orleans music and culture as it exists today.

The Soul Rebels started with an idea - to expand upon the pop music they loved on the radio and the New Orleans brass tradition they grew up on. They took that tradition and blended funk and soul with . . . elements of hip hop, jazz and rock all within a brass band context. The band has built a career around an eclectic live show that harnesses the power of horns and drums in a deep pocket funk party-like atmosphere. When not touring, The Soul Rebels' weekly show at New Orleans' Le Bon Temps Roulé is known to erupt with the kind of contagious, shout-along musical mayhem that The Rebels bring with them wherever they perform. The Soul Rebels continue to chart new territory as they combine topnotch musicianship and songs with grooves that celebrate dancing, life, funk and soul.

Christian Scott, also known as Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, is a two-time Edison Award winning (2010 and 2012) and Grammy Award nominated trumpeter, composer, producer and music executive. Christian’s Grammy nominated international recording debut, Rewind that was called “arguably the most remarkable premiere the genre has seen in the last decade” by Billboard Magazine, earned Christian two prominent features on their cover and inclusion in their list of “Ones to Watch.”

Tonya Boyd-Cannon's professional career started as a background vocalist for Jean Knight, who's best known for her 1970’s hit single, “Mr. Big Stuff”. Tonya's professional career also includes work as a vocal coach, Educator and Minister of music. Additionally, she is credited with creating the first, combined male and female mass choir in the Orleans Parish prison in New Orleans. Tonya’s rare contralto voice, almost identical to that of a countertenor, pushes the envelope with soulful arrangements and jazzy lyrical content. Tonya's career catapulted when she appeared on Season 8 of NBC's The Voice. She wowed the crowd and her coach Adam Levine.

"It’s possible that no band in the world has a more impressive resume than The Soul Rebels." 
          —Paste Magazine

“[Christian Scott is] jazz’s young style God... the architect of a new commercially viable fusion." 
          —JazzTimes Magazine

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46th Annual Spring Oratorio
Friday, April 12, 2019
7:00 PM, Alumni Hall

Durufle: Trois Danses (Op. 6)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (Op. 125)

Trois Danses - A lushly beautiful and romantic collection of short dances for orchestra.

Symphony No. 9 - Recognized as one of the most celebrated and profound works in western music, and considered by many to be the greatest piece of music ever written - Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is beloved throughout the world. The Ninth Symphony extols not just joy, but the capacity for joy - as well Beethoven might, since exercising that capacity through music is how he survived his own trying circumstances. The universally known text touches on his preoccupation with domestic happiness and on man’s endless quest to find his own place in the universe and a relationship with the Creator.

Join us for a sublime evening of monumental music-making performed by the critically acclaimed USNA Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra!

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