Acclaimed jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval felt the love from Notre Dame when he received an honorary doctorate in 2016, and he wanted to reciprocate. Maybe a Christmas album recorded with campus ensembles — jazz, symphonic, the children’s choir — he suggested to Thomas G. Burish ’72.
The provost’s embrace of the idea set in motion a project that culminated with the release on September 28 of Arturo Sandoval’s Christmas at Notre Dame. Students from the University’s symphonic winds and jazz ensembles join Sandoval in performing sacred and festive Christmas carols, with musical arrangements by senior Alex Mansour, all given voice by the Notre Dame Children’s Choir.
The children will appear again alongside Sandoval at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on December 21. (No stranger to chart-topping success, the Children’s Choir will perform its previous No. 1 album, O Emmanuel, in L.A. the following day.)
Proceeds from the sale of the Christmas album will go to a scholarship that funds tuition for Notre Dame music students and includes individual instruction from Sandoval himself.