Julian Chan Jazz Orchestra presents

A Jazz Christmas

Sunday 20 December 2026 The Campus Ampang · 3pm and 8pm

The full orchestra opens with music from Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite, Tchaikovsky’s ballet reworked as swinging jazz, then turns to the Christmas classics everyone knows. Bring the kids in the afternoon, or make a night of it.

Get your tickets

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Join the sign-up list at waltzproduction.com/jazz and we will tell you first when the presale opens.

The music

In 1960, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn taught Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to swing.

Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker as a ballet in 1892, and its tunes have been part of Christmas ever since. Almost seventy years later, the two rearranged its dances for a jazz big band, and gave them new names.

Tchaikovsky, 1892Ellington & Strayhorn, 1960

Dance of the Sugar Plum FairySugar Rum Cherry

Dance of the Reed PipesToot Toot Tootie Toot

MarchPeanut Brittle Brigade

Russian DanceThe Volga Vouty

Melodies the kids know, with a swing the grown-ups will love.

The band

Big‑band swing, played live.

The Julian Chan Jazz Orchestra posing with their instruments, with Julian Chan in a dark suit holding his saxophone.

Julian Chan, smiling, holding his alto saxophone.

The bandleader

Meet Julian Chan

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, saxophonist Julian Chan has performed across Malaysia and Asia since 2001. He earned his Master of Music in jazz at Queens College, City University of New York, and has played with Sheila Majid, Laura Fygi and James Morrison, on festival stages from Jakarta to London. In 2018 he formed his own big band, the Julian Chan Jazz Orchestra.

2018: Crazy Rich Asians WVC, the jazz quartet he plays in, is the band in a party scene filmed in Kuala Lumpur.
Dec 2018: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore Jeremy Monteiro’s Christmas big‑band concert, billed alongside Tony Lakatos and Carmen Bradford.
Jul 2019: Borneo Jazz Festival, Miri His big band, booked within a year of its debut.
Apr 2021: Lion City Youth Jazz Festival Mentor and guest artist, billed with Count Basie Orchestra director Scotty Barnhart.
Feb 2025: Jazz Association Singapore Orchestra At the Capitol Theatre. A Straits Times critic named his solos among the stand‑outs.
Oct 2025: Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS Featured soloist with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and his band. The MPO also hosted his jazz workshop.
Dec 2026: Borneo Jazz Festival, 20th edition Back on the line‑up in Miri.

Good to know

Doors: 3pm Family Matinee: 2.15pm
8pm Jazz Night: 7.15pm
Seating: You choose a zone, not a seat number. Seating is free within your zone. Arrive early to sit together.
Children: Children aged 4 and above are welcome. Child tickets are for children under 12 on show day. Every child ticket needs at least one adult ticket for the same show. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Early bird: Early bird is the first 300 adult tickets sold, across both shows and both zones. After that, adult tickets are full price.
Presale: The sign-up list buys first, from Thu 12 Nov, 8pm, with their own code. Their early bird price is kept until Thu 19 Nov, 8pm, even after early bird sells out. Public sale opens Sat 14 Nov, 8pm.
Prices: Prices are in ringgit and are the full price you pay. No booking or processing fee is added.
E-tickets: Your e-tickets are emailed to you as soon as your payment is confirmed, usually within a few minutes: one ticket per seat, each with its own QR code.
Payment: Pay securely online through Revenue Monster. Payment methods to be confirmed.
Getting there: Robert's Theatre, The Campus, Lot 7706, Jalan Kolam Air Lama, Hulu Kelang, 68000 Ampang, Selangor. Open in Maps
Parking on site is limited, first come first served: Zone A RM15 at weekends, Zones B and C from RM2, capped at RM15 a day.
Questions: Email hello@waltzproduction.com. We aim to reply within 24 hours.