Composer Chris Brubeck will be in the classroom and in concert in Gettysburg later this month. The visiting artist will instruct students in class, interact with student composers, and perform in two public concerts with Conservatory ensembles. (FLIPSIDE -- SUBMITTED)
Chris Brubeck, a Grammy nominated composer and world-renown musician will perform with the students at their winter concerts this weekend and the students could not be happier.

"To be able to work with someone who is such a superstar in the jazz field is very exciting," said Alexander Kahn, director of the Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra.

Brubeck's collaboration with his legendary father, jazz musician Dave Brubeck, was nominated for a 2013 Grammy as Best Instrumental Composition. The project, titled "Ansel Adams: America," incorporated Adams' photographs of the American landscape into a musical piece. Brubeck is also an accomplished bass, trombone, piano and guitar player.

Buzz Jones, director of the jazz

ensemble of Gettysburg College, summed up Brubeck's accomplishments, explaining that, "the Brubeck name is iconic in jazz history."

For this entire week, Brubeck will also be teaching and mentoring Gettysburg College students. He will rehearse for the concerts with the orchestra and jazz bands, both of which will be playing some of Brubeck's music at their shows.

Brubeck will also speak to jazz history and musical composition classes, sharing his own methods and techniques with them.

"So much of the music we do is written by people who are dead," Kahn said. "It's nice to have a living composer to answer the students' questions."

It's also really important for the students to meet a working musician, Jones said, so that they can learn from his own experiences in the business.

The concerts themselves will be held this weekend, with the jazz ensemble performing on Saturday and the orchestra performing on Sunday. Brubeck will perform with the students and as a soloist in both shows. His own music, including "The Basic Band is Back in Town" and his father's "Blue Rondo ala Turk" will both be performed.

"We are all just really looking forward to it," Jones said.

If you go

What: Gettysburg College 24th Annual Winter Jazz Concert

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg

Cost: Tickets are $5 for adults and free for students, faculty, and staff with a college ID and for children younger than 12 years old.

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What: Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra Pop Concert

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg

Cost: Tickets are $5 for adults and free for students, faculty, and staff with a college ID and for children younger than 12 years old.