The Ambassadors of Jazz

What a wonderful performance we enjoyed on Father's Day! There is definitely a trend developing this year, at least in my observations, and a healthy one at that. The musicians who come to perform in Stamford are often an international group, and these fabulous Jazz performers were no exception. Like our first concert this year, I found myself cajoling our regular attendees to come, since many who attend the classical features say they "don't like Jazz" (or Opera, as the case was back in April). And like the artists from the Lindemann Program and the Metropolitan opera, these three men (all from the Juilliard School at one time or another in their lives) provided a wonderful opportunity for us to stretch our musical comfort zone without causing any distress, and also provided a lovely afternoon for many who already know they do like Jazz, or at least the Jazz standards that Clovis Nicolas, John Chin and Kenny Washington played for us.

In fact Mr. Nicolas said to me after the concert that Mr. Washington, who teaches at Juilliard, is well known among the students as working to pass the torch for the great Jazz standards -- he is a standard bearer for the standards as is were. Judging from the rousing ovation the trio received, Mr. Washington should be happy for a job well done in that effort as well.

It was another perfectly beautiful summer day, and it was so enchanting to sit and hear the gentle variations on familiar tunes (and some that were new to us as well) while watching the sun sparkling on the surface of the water across the lawn and the lush green of the foliage as it grew into fullness from the ripening of the season. I promise to add some photos here soon and apologize for the delay in posting this. I hope as with the Opera performances as the seasons progress and we continue to offer a Jazz option that more and more people, familiar faces and new ones, will come to treasure these performances as much as we do the classical offerings.

Thank you so much, gentlemen!

Father's Day Concert to Feature Jazz Trio

Performing June 17th in Stamford (top to bottom, left to
right): John Chin, piano; Clovis Nicolas, bass and Kenny
Washington, drums.

Jazz at the Cyr Center -- it's true! In September 2011 Friends of Music presented its first jazz concert ever, to the great delight of those in the audience. Four talented young jazz musicians from the Juilliard School's acclaimed Jazz Program performed a fabulous set of standards from the American songbook. From my vantage point at the back of the room I can attest that all heads were bobbing, all toes were tapping in rhythm with songs that we all knew and loved.

The group was led by Clovis Nicolas, bass, and we invited him to organize another group for us this year. Joining Mr. Nicolas on Sunday, June 17th at 3:00 PM will be John Chin on piano and Kenny Washington on drums. The trio will take us “Around the World with Jazz Standards,” a program that's sure to be fun for the entire family and a great way to celebrate the day and spend some quality time with Dad!

Sunday, June 17th 2012, 3:00 PM

Around the World with Jazz Standards

John Chin, piano

Clovis Nicolas, bass

Kenny Washington, drums

1.  Broadway     Woods/Bird?McCrae

2.  On a Slow Boat to China     Frank Loesser

3.  A Night in Tunisia     Dizzy Gillespie

4.  April in Paris     Vernon Duke

5.  Girl from Ipanema     Antônio Carlos Jobim

6.  Serenade to Sweden     Duke Ellington

7.  Foggy Day (in London Town)     George and Ira Gershwin

8.  Autumn in New York     Vernon Duke

John Chin began playing piano at the age of four and has taught others to play the instrument since 1994. Born in Korea and raised in Los Angeles, Mr. Chin completed his undergraduate work by the age of nineteen and earned his Masters of Music from Rutgers University in 1999 as Kenny Barron's protégé. In 2011 John graduated from the Juilliard School as part of the prestigious Artist Diploma program. He has performed extensively in California, Dallas/Ft. Worth and in New York City with musicians including Ron Carter, Joe Chambers, Benny Golson, Mark Turner, and Vincent Herring. For more information and to hear samples from his recording Blackout Conception visit his Web site at http://www.johnchin.com/.

Clovis Nicolas  has performed and recorded extensively both in his native France and in New York since he moved here over 10 years ago. He has studied at Juilliard with legendary bass player Sir Ron Carter and shared the stage with prominent artists including Grant Stewart, Harry Allen, Benny Powell, Curtis Fuller, Branford Marsalis, James Williams, Peter Bernstein, Joe Magnarelli, Sacha Perry, Sachal Vasandani, Simon Shaheen, Carl Allen, Jane Monheit and Dan Nimmer.

One of the many young hard-bop revivalists to arrive on the scene in the late '70s and early '80s, drummer  Kenny Washington has played with such legendary veterans as Lee Konitz, Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Tommy Flanagan.

Born in Brooklyn, Kenny Washington studied with the former Dizzy Gillespie drummer Rudy Collins and attended New York’s LaGuardia High School for Music & Art. A prolific freelancer, Mr. Washington has compiled an enormous discography, performing on dozens of sessions by many of jazz's most prominent figures. He currently teaches at the Juilliard School, and we are honored and thrilled that he will perform in Stamford with Mr. Nicolas and Mr. Chin!

Read more about the musicians and their extensive credentials at the Friends of Music Web site, friendsmusic.org.

We hope to see you at 3PM on Sunday, June 17th 2012, at the Cyr Center in Stamford for a great afternoon of classic jazz. As always we thank our many donors and especially the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation for your generosity which makes these concerts possible.

The Allant Trio Performs in Stamford on Sunday May 20th at 3PM

The Allant Trio (l to r): Alina Lim, cello; Beth Nam, piano and Anna Park, violin.

Friends of Music continues its 2012 Season with a performance by the Allant Trio on Sunday, May 20th at 3PM. Graduates of and graduate students at the Juilliard School (where the Trio was formed about 2 years ago) the group includes Beth Hyo Kyoung Nam, piano; Anna Jihyun Park, violin, and Alina Lim, cello.

Since then they have performed extensively as a group, and they participated in the Chamber Music Residency Program at the Banff Centre. In 2011 the Allant Trio was among the semi-finalists at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in Norway. Through their proven commitment to community engagement they have generously agreed to make the journey to Stamford to perform for us here.

The program for May 20, 2012 is currently planned as follows:

Program

Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97 (“Archduke”) (1810 – 11)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
    I.  Allegro moderato
   II.  Scherzo (Allegro)
  III. Andante cantabile ma però con moto. Poco piu adagio.
  IV. Allegro moderato – PrestoIntermission

Piano Trio (1914)
Joseph-Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
    I. Modéré
   II. Pantoum (Assez vif)
  III. Passacaille (Très large)
  IV. Final (Animé)

Born in Korea, Anna Park moved to New York at the age of thirteen to pursue her studies at the Juilliard Pre-College with Professors Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. She joined the Vivaldi Youth Ensemble based in New York City that same year and gave both solo and chamber music recitals.

In 2002, Ms. Park attended the Aspen Music Festival and School where she performed in the Starling Recital Series. In 2003, she attended Killington Music Festival where she gave several performances and participated in master classes with Lawrence Dutton, a member of the Emerson String Quartet. In 2004, she performed Maurer's Concertante for Four Violins as first violin with the International Sejong Soloists, with whom she regularly tours internationally. Since 2004, she has annually attended the Great Mountains International Music Festival & School in Pyong Chang, South Korea, where she studies with Nam Yun Kim, Chee Yun, Kurt Sassmannshaus and Igor Ozim.

In 2005, her first year at the Juilliard School, Ms. Park was designated as the Samsung Award Student and gave a recital at the Samsung Experience in New York City. In 2008, Ms. Park gave a concert with the Kangwon Festival Ensemble in Korea as part of the Rising Star Series at the great Mountains International Festival & School. In 2010, she won the first prize of Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra Competition and performed the Elgar Concerto for Violin under conductor Toshiyuki Shimada in 2011. Ms. Park received a scholarship from the Korean Cultural Service in New York and she completed her Master's Degree at the Juilliard School with Hyo Kang and Naoko Tanaka in 2011.

Alina Lim is currently pursuing her graduate studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron. She began her cello studies at the age of eight with Joowon Kim at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. During these years, Ms. Lim won various awards and scholarships through the Conservatory, as well as The Kiwanis Music Festival of the Greater Toronto Area and The Ontario Music Festivals Association. She was also a two-time winner at the national finals of The Canadian Music Competition (2003, 2005).

In 2005, Ms. Lim went on to continue her studies with David Hetherington at The Young Artist Performance Academy of the RCM. As the winner of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra's Concerto Competition in 2006, she has performed with The Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Alina Lim has also performed with The Academy Symphony Orchestra of the RCM, The Kitchener-Waterloo/Durham Youth Orchestras and The National Repertory Orchestra. Ms. Lim is a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award from the NPR show From the Top, in which she played with the Trillium Trio. She has participated in music festivals such as ENCORE School for Strings, Meadowmount School of Music, New York Strings Orchestra Seminar, Aspen Music Festival and School, The National Repertory Orchestra, and The Banff Centre for the Arts.

Beth Nam was selected to play in the Steinway Society Young Artist Concert in San Jose in 2003 where she was reviewed highly in the press. That same year she also played at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall with the Nesher Trio. The group toured in the Netherlands and won a debut concert at Carnegie Weil Recital Hall through the Artist International Audition in 2004. Ms. Nam is the winner of numerous competitions and scholarship awards, especially in California, and has performed in numerous recitals, chamber concerts, winner's concerts and master classes in well-known venues in the United States and abroad.

A native of Korea, Ms. Nam began studying piano at age nine. Her major teachers include Hak Soon Swiatkowski, Lois Roberts at El Camino College, and Martin Canin at Juilliard. She worked with the South Bay Children's Chorus as soloist, accompanist and assistant conductor under the artistic direction of Dr. Jane Hardester and Diane Simons. In 2007, Nam was invited by the choir as an assistant conductor to their England Tour where they performed one of her motets, a composition which won a competition sponsored by Juilliard's Literature and Materials department. She has taught at two New York City Public Schools through a Morse Fellowship and a Teaching Fellowship in Secondary Piano, and has also been a piano faculty of the Music Advancement Program at Juilliard since 2007.

Ms. Nam received both the Bachelor and the Master of Music degrees as a scholarship student from the Juilliard School. In 2008 Beth Nam gained acceptance to Juilliard's prestigious Doctor of Musical Arts program where she has continued her studies in piano performance with Robert McDonald.

To learn more about these fabulously talented young musicians, please visit their Web site at allanttrio.com.

Thank you to all of our donors and especially to the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation for making this concert possible. We hope you will join us on Sunday May 20th at the Cyr Center in Stamford for this outstanding performance!