Arturo Sandoval returns to Notre Dame for concert, halftime performance in support of Christmas album

By Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations | University of Notre Dame

[About a 2 MIN read]

Arturo Sandoval playing the trumpet on stage, eyes closed, immersed in the music.
Arturo Sandoval playing the trumpet on stage, eyes closed, immersed in the music.

Arturo Sandoval returns to Notre Dame for concert, halftime performance in support of Christmas album

By Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations | University of Notre Dame

[About a 2 MIN read]

This article originally appeared in Notre Dame News on September 26, 2018. Reposted with permission.

Award-winning jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval will perform in support of his new album, “Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas at Notre Dame,” on Friday (Sept. 28) and Saturday (Sept. 29) at the University of Notre Dame.

Sandoval will perform with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir, Notre Dame Symphonic Winds, and Notre Dame Jazz Ensemble at 8 p.m. Friday as part of an album release concert at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC). Tickets for the event are available online at dpactickets.nd.edu or at the DPAC ticket office.

On Saturday, Sandoval will perform with the Notre Dame Marching Band at halftime of the home football game between the Fighting Irish and Stanford University at Notre Dame Stadium.

Sandoval recorded “Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas at Notre Dame” in May 2017, returning to the University after receiving an honorary degree the previous year. The 12-track album features various Notre Dame music ensembles. Songs include religious classics such as “Silent Night” and secular songs such as “Frosty the Snowman.”

Profits from the sale of the album will help support the Arturo Sandoval Institute (ASI) Scholarship at Notre Dame. The ASI provides access, support, and inspiration to music students so they may continue their music education without economic worry. Through scholarships, instrument donations, concerts, clinics, master classes, financial support and community collaborations, ASI is devoted to ensuring that music students can focus on music.

“‘Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas at Notre Dame’ unites a wide cross-section of the Notre Dame community, with undergraduate and graduate students, child choristers and professional musicians in consort to create vibrant renditions of classic Christmas music,” Mark Doerries, associate professor in the practice of conducting at Notre Dame and Lilly Conductor for the Notre Dame Children’s Choir, said of the album.

Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., said: “Arturo Sandoval’s trumpet raises our spirits and gladdens our hearts as we celebrate Christmas. His musical expression of unbridled joy and goodwill calls us to embrace the love, charity, and reconciliation at the heart of this blessed season. ‘Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas at Notre Dame’ is sure to become a holiday classic.”

An internationally acclaimed jazz and classical musician and composer, Sandoval, who is Cuban-American, has won 10 Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards, and an Emmy Award. He is a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Now an emeritus professor of music at Florida International University, he continues to tour, perform and offer clinics and seminars worldwide.


Categories: Artists Inspiring Community, News + Announcements, Presenting Series