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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

Samara Joy
A Joyful Holiday
Featuring The McLendon Family

7:30 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Eisenhower Auditorium

“Joy has an immaculately smooth, perfectly pitched delivery that leans heavily toward tradition, but at the same time emits a youthful quality and unique phrasing behind new arrangements.” Making a Scene

At only 24, her voice is wise beyond her years — a reincarnation of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday, with a special something all her own. The New York Times praises Joy for “helping jazz take a youthful turn,” while NPR calls her a “classic jazz singer from a new generation.” 

The three-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist will make her Penn State debut with a performance of her third annual A Joyful Holiday featuring the McLendon Family. Joy is also nominated for two 2024 Grammy Awards — for Best Jazz Performance and Best Jazz Vocal Album, for A Joyful Holiday.

The concert will feature a festive mix of sacred and secular with selections from her 2024 EP A Joyful Holiday (Verve Records), along with several gospel-inspired seasonal favorites.

She will perform alongside her “first role models,” including her father Antonio McLendon, with a backing group featuring Shedrick Mitchell on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass, and Charles Haynes on drums.

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Buy Tickets
Adult $68
University Park Student $10
18 and Younger $51

Sponsored by
Patricia Best and Thomas Ray

Support provided by
John L. Brown Jr. and Marlynn Steele Sidehamer Endowment
McQuaide Blasko Endowment

Accessibility services supported by
William E. McTurk Endowment for Program Support

A grant from the University Park Fee Board makes Penn State Student prices possible.

Artist Websites: 

Samara Joy

Secondary Events on Each Event

The Joyfull
Jazz Edition

6:00 pm Monday, December 2, 2024

Heritage Hall, HUB-Robeson Center

FREE - Registration is required

Register

The Center for the Performing Arts and Student Affairs invite you to replenish.

Food is much more than what sits on our plates. Food intersects with nearly every aspect of our lives—from the communities and cultures we come from to issues of climate, food security, and our personal relationships with food.

Just like food, art comes from many forms, cultural backgrounds, and histories. At each Joyfull, we welcome all to come and enjoy a meal, live performance, and conversation.

When our bodies are hungry, we need to eat. But when our souls are hungry, we crave a different kind of nourishment. Join us for evenings of joyful expression, where we forge connections and leave with full bellies and full hearts. Feed your soul; savor the culture.

The Joyfull Jazz Edition celebrates winter holidays from global traditions around the world. The program includes two stellar combos from the Penn State Jazz program playing music of the season. The menu will feature holiday culinary traditions that reflect global cultures, including jerk chicken, latkes, and khichdi.

Free sustainable utensil sets will be given to first-time attendees while supplies last. Help us reduce waste by bringing them with you to use at each Joyfull.

Support for The Joyfull events provided by
Dick Brown and Sandy Zaremba
Penn State Equal Opportunity Planning Committee in The Office for the Vice Provost for Educational Equity