NEWorks Productions is honored to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with this FREE community concert of music by iconic American composer Duke Ellington. Co-presented with the M-NCPPC Department of Parks & Recreation/Arts & Cultural Heritage Division, this program will feature stellar songs from Ellington's less-commonly-known “Blues in Orbit” recording project—released 60 years ago—along with classic Ellington tunes performed by the United States Army Blues. 

The concert will feature the world premiere of "One Giant Leap," a NEWorks-commissioned work celebrating the ‘hidden figures’ of the Apollo 11 era, composed by celebrated jazz musician/composer Allyn Johnson, director of jazz studies at the University of the District of Columbia.

Other program highlights include performances by emerging student artists from the Foundation for the Advancement of Music & Education [FAME] jazz program and the Friendship Collegiate Academy.