George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band

The concert premiere of George Gruntz' new jazz opera »The Magic of a Flute« at the 2003 Menuhin Festival in Gstaad (Switzerland) was a triumphant success, several encores being followed by standing ovations lasting 25 minutes. There were similar scenes when the opera was performed a second time in Hamburg during last year’s Schleswig Holstein Music Festival.

This opera rests on the same libretto by Emanuel Schickaneder that Mozart used as the basis for his »Magic Flute«. But that is all Mozart’s and Gruntz’ compositions have in common, the latter having produced a completely new work...

In the run-up to its forthcoming spring tour the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band will be presenting some of the finest arias from the opera. Several of Gruntz’ latest works will also be performed, including a selection of the pieces that were played for the first time at the 2003 Swiss Peak Festival in New York.

Also on stage will be Renee Manning, Laura Newton and Sandie Wollasch, three ladies who complement each other in consummate manner. They all contributed to the success of the premiere. 

The concert is being held for the benefit of Deutsche Myasthenie Gesellschaft e.V. Myasthenia is an auto-immune disease that leads to different kinds of muscular paralysis.