CONFIRMED! Jazz at the Cyr Center 3:00 PM today, September 18th

In case someone is looking here for any last-minute updates, the musicians are on their way and we have a secure route for them. It's a bit longer than the usual route and these hard-working young men have at least a 12-hour work day today. I hope we'll have a great turnout to show our appreciation!

One note: given our cold temperatures the last two nights, and since the Cyr Center is no longer occupied by business tenants, I think it may be a bit chilly in the building today. We do not have control of the thermostat, so I suggest you bring a sweater or a jacket, just in case. They've been working this week on replacing the windows, those lovely - but leaky - old windows. I'm not sure if it's just the ones in the ballroom or if it was the entire building. We'll find out this afternoon. It just cost me $700 to fill up my oil tank, and I can only imagine (shudder! Gasp!) what it costs to heat the Cyr Center.

See you soon...

Jazz from Juilliard at the Cyr Center on Sunday September 18th

 Blues, Ballads and Bossas

 

     Clovis Nicolas, upright bass                   David Lantz, piano                       Lucas Pino, Saxophone





Carmen Intorre, drums

 Mother Nature has been stirring things up big time around here lately (to put it mildly), and with all the contemplation recently about the horrific events of 10 years ago it seems nothing will ever be the same again. Perhaps we can move beyond the tragedies of past and present and explore some opportunities for positive change. This concert for Friends of Music is exactly that: for the very first time in our 25-year history, we will hear a Jazz performance by some amazingly talented young men through the auspices of the Juilliard School in New York City.

This is not a turning away from the classical chamber music we have heard at the Cyr Center for the past quarter century, but rather an aknowledgment of our changing demographics and of the longevity and the influence of American Jazz -- now a tradition in its own right -- in music worldwide. In consideration of this being our initiation into the more contemporary music scene, the theme of this concert will be "Blues, Ballads and Bossas:"  nothing too radical for our classically-attuned ears.

Lucas Pino, saxophone, started his life in music at the age of 10, selecting the alto saxophone as his instrument. Immediately inspired by the music of John Coltrane, Lucas spent his formative years relentlessly listening to records, and switched to tenor saxophone at age 12. After being selected for numerous honors during high school, including a DownBeat Magazine award as “Best Instrumental soloist” (2005), Lucas attended the Brubeck Institute as one of five fellows. This ensemble regularly performed in venues across the United States and abroad, studied with jazz masters and spent time learning and performing with Dave Brubeck. 

In 2007, Mr. Pino moved to New York City to complete his undergraduate degree at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. During his time at the New School, Lucas studied privately with Chris Cheek, graduating with “Academic Honors.” In 2009 Lucas attended the Juilliard School and was awarded the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship. He studied saxophone with Ron Blake during his tenure at the Juilliard School and completed his Masters in Music in 2011. Lucas Pino continues to live in New York City and although he has a rigorous touring schedule, can be seen performing around the city with various groups.

David Lantz, piano, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, started music lessons at the age of 4. A multi-instrumentalist, he has studied piano, sax, guitar and violin. Since the age of 9, David studied with a number of jazz musicians including David Liebman and Phil Markowitz who live in the Stroudsburg area. For 4 years as a member of a select area high school jazz band that plays at the COTA (Celebration of the Arts) Jazz Festival in Delaware Water Gap, Mr. Lantz played guitar and piano, and as a senior he composed and arranged a big band chart. David played his first gig at age 14 and has since been a regular feature at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, playing with George Young, David Liebman and Phil Woods. As a senior in high school, David was selected to play piano at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Awards for the Arts where Phil Woods was an honoree.       

Mr. Lantz has played in the COTA Jazz Festival and the Scranton Jazz Festival with his own group as well as in many other venues. For 2 years, David was selected as the Pennsylvania All-State jazz band pianist and has won two ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s awards. In addition he won a Down Beat student music award for jazz performance. As a graduating high school senior, he was awarded the Louis Armstrong Award and COTA scholarship. David Lantz is currently a student at The Juilliard School where he is a jazz studies major, piano being his instrument.

After learning piano as a child, Clovis Nicolas, upright bass, dedicated himself to music when he first picked up the upright bass as a teenager. He went on to study at the Conservatoire of Avignon (France) with Mr. Joseph Fabre, one of the most notable instructors in France. He soon gained a solid reputation for his precise and tasteful bass playing and started working in his early twenties with artists like Peter King, Ted Curson and Laurent de Wilde.

After graduating from Conservatoire of Marseilles in 1996, Clovis moved to Paris where he established himself as a first call musician. During this time, he performed and recorded alongside artists such as Belmondo, Baptiste Trotignon, Brad Mehldau, Michelle Hendricks, Stefano Di Battista, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Aldo Romano. He participated in more than fifteen critically acclaimed recordings, including Belmondo's Hymne au Soleil which won three Jazz Grammy Awards in 2004 and Baptiste Trotignon's Sightseeing which received Best Album of the Year 2001 from Jazzman Magazine.

Mr. Nicolas moved to New York in 2002 and has since shared the stage in numerous venues (Jazz Standard, Smalls, 55 Bar, Kennedy Center, Smoke, Jazz Gallery) with some of today's most prominent jazz musicians, including Grant Stewart, Harry Allen, Benny Powell, Curtis Fuller, Branford Marsalis, James Williams, Peter Bernstein, Joe Magnarelli, Sacha Perry, Sachal Vasandani, Simon Shaheen and Dan Nimmer. He is featured on Josh Brown’s recording The Feeling of Jazz, as well as on new alto sensation Dmitry Baevsky’s Some Other Spring featuring legendary guitarist Joe Cohn. He is currently studying with jazz master Ron Carter at the Juilliard School in New York.

Born in Buffalo, NY, Carmen Intorre, drums, developed an early interest in music and began playing drums at age five.  A graduate of the Institute for Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, he has performed and recorded with numerous musicians such as George Benson, Monty Alexander, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Bucky Piazzarelli, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lew Tabackin, Larry Coryell, Bobby Watson, and many others.  Carmen co-produced and recorded on Joey DeFrancesco's latest CD, Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson, which received a 2011 Grammy Nomination in category of Best Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.

Currently, Mr. Intorre performs with vocalist Hilary Kole, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and organist Pat Bianchi.  Carmen just completed recording his debut CD as a leader on Random Act Records.  The CD will feature performances by Joey DeFrancesco, John Hart, Pat Bianchi, Jon Irabagon, and Bob Belden, and is scheduled for release in August 2011.

Friends of Music of Stamford NY

presents

Blues, Ballads and Bossas

Jazz Artists from the Juilliard School

Lucas Pino, saxophone

David Lantz, piano

Clovis Nicolas, upright bass

Carmen Intorre, drums

-Now's The Time

-Parker's Mood

-SKJ

-Misty

-In a Sentimental Mood

-Chelsea Bridge

-Star Eyes

-How Insensitive

-Triste

Please join us at 3PM on Sunday, September 18th at the Cyr Center in Stamford for our first ever Jazz concert!

Bombastiq Brass Quintet to Perform August 21st at the Cyr Center

The Bombastiq Brass Quintet: Andrew Bove, tuba; Haim Avitsur, trombone; Karl Kramer-Johansen, French horn; Bryan K. Appleby-Wineburg, trumpet; Thomas Hoyt, trumpet.

Perennial favorites the Bombastiq Brass Quintet will continue the Friends of Music 25^th Anniversary Season in a performance at 3PM on Sunday August 21 at the Cyr Center in Stamford. These seriously talented professionals usually provide a bit of comic relief in their programs and this year it seems they will continue this tradition with a concert they have titled “Music by Composers with Silly Names.”

Those who heard the Quintet perform in 2008 will no doubt remember a piece arranged by group leader Karl Kramer that was based on a performance he heard by a street musician in Paris. It seemed the musical equivalent of a three-ring circus; the audience was at first astounded and then delighted by the playful use of non-classical instruments including kazoos and other children’s toys. It was great fun and received a rousing ovation, and we will have an encore of the piece on August 21.

A number of 20^th-Century composers will be represented including Mr. Kramer’s grandfather, Jolly Kramer-Johansen, who created a great deal of music for the Norwegian film and television industries. Also included are works from the 16^th and 17^th Centuries that are more in keeping with the classical tradition of Friends of Music, and the Quintet will perform them all masterfully. The complete program is planned as follows:

 

Bombastiq Brass Quintet

Plays music by

 COMPOSERS WITH SILLY NAMES

Samuel Scheidt (1587 – 1654):  Centone V

I.     Galliard Battaglia                                               

II.    Benedicamus Domino

III.   Canzon Gallicam

Paul Thermos (1952 – 2003):  Groundwork

Jolly Kramer-Johansen (1902 – 1968):  To Små Hender

Soloist: Bryan Appleby-Wineberg – Trumpet

Charging Thunder:  Song of the Old Wolf/Song of the Young Wolves

— Intermission —

Jacob Clemens Non Papa (1510/15 – 1555/56):  Angelus Domini

Milan Igloo:  4 Dvojpisni v Odlisnych Taktech

I.     Na tech panskejch Lukach & Utikej, Kaco

II.    Je-Li Pak Pravda, Nebo Ne & Ach, Neni tu, Neni

III.   Slibl Mne Muj Mily & Slunicko Za Hory Zachazi & U Klastera Pole

IV.   Uz Ho Vedou, Martina & Ta Zlukovska Naves

Carl Orff (1895 – 1982):  Carmina Burana Suite

Darius Milhaud (1892 – 1974):  Concertino d’Hiver

Soloist: Haim Avitsur – Trombone

Ludwig Wilhelm Andreas Maria Thuille (1861 – 1907):  Gavotte

Henri Faisal N’Gombe (contemporary):  Tu Veux

Soloist: Karl Kramer – Piccolo horn

Emile Waldteufel (1837 – 1915):  Eilgut-galopp

I can promise you there is never a dull moment when these gentlemen come to play for us! Here is some biographical information in case you think this humorous approach means their level of talent is any less than the usual high quality of artists who perform for us:

     Bryan Kent Appleby-Wineberg is currently Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Brass at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, and principal trumpet of The Haddonfield Symphony.  He is also a solo cornetist with the Gramercy Brass Band in NYC, and the Atlantic Brass Band in Glassboro.  Bryan completed his Doctorate at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, studying with Peter Bond of the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and having served as a Doctoral Fellow in Trumpet at Rutgers for three years.

     Mr. Appleby-Wineberg was reviewed by Classical New Jersey as possessing “unheralded virtuosity of breath-control and intonation” and playing “with creamy effortlessness.”  The Evansville (IN) Courier and Press described him as having “a sure and strong clarion tone.”  He has performed with numerous orchestras and symphonies in the eastern United States.  Bryan holds degrees from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was awarded the 1994 Bernard Adelstine Prize in Trumpet.

     Thomas Hoyt is a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra and has appeared as soloist or guest artist with the Bach Aria Group, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He performs as an extra with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra and New York City Ballet Orchestra, among others.

     Tom received a Grammy for his part in the Wicked cast album.  He has played with over twenty Broadway musicals, most recently with the smash hit Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre.  He can also be heard on a variety of recordings and television programs including a program on Nickelodeon.  Tom holds a Doctorate from S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook and a Masters from Yale University.  He teaches at New York University and at Columbia University Teachers College. 

 

     Norwegian horn player Karl Kramer-Johansen has been principal horn of the Jupiter Symphony for five years.  During this period he was regularly featured as soloist in the well-loved concerti by Strauss and Mozart, as well as in neglected masterpieces by Reinecke, Dubois, Chabrier and others.  In addition to orchestral and solo work Karl also maintains a busy chamber music schedule as artist-member and guest artist of numerous concert series and festivals.  Chamber music partners include Adam Niemann, William Wolfram, Ruth Laredo, Philip Entremont, and Richard Bishop.

     Also sought after as recitalist/lecturer, Karl has toured the United States with composer/pianist Wolfgang Plagge and given masterclasses at several universities.  Other new music collaborations include those with Marc-Antonio Consoli, professor at New York University (Varie Azione III, Games for Three, Four Shades of Tango), and the world-premiere of Kile Smith’s triple concerto The Three Muses, with oboist Gerard Reuter and cellist Wolfram Koessel.

     Karl is also a top prizewinner in many international competitions and the recipient of several awards, most recently the 2001 America-Scandinavian Society Cultural Award.  Karl can be heard on the Philips, Aurora and Polygram labels.

     Trombonist Haim Avitsur has presented numerous solo recitals featuring newly commissioned works for trombone at venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Noonday Concerts-Trinity Church Wall Street, Stanford University CA, Syracuse University NY, and at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.  His chamber music appearances include Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, WQXR New York Classical Radio Station, Bard College, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Mr. Avitsur has presented masterclasses at Aaron Copland School of Music, NY, and the Tel-Aviv Music Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel, among others.
     In November 2000, Mr. Avitsur gave his Carnegie debut at Weill Recital Hall after having won the Artist International’s Special Presentation Award in its 2000 Competition.  Mr. Avitsur is the first Israeli trombonist on record to play a full recital in this hall. In the spring of 2002 Haim played a concert and gave a workshop at Stanford University, CA.  During those events he premiered three pieces for trombone and electronic sounds.   Since the fall of 1999, Mr. Avitsur has been adjunct faculty at Queens College, New York, and more recently he joined the faculty of the Mannes College of Music Extension Division.

    And I must add that last year Mr. Avitsur was put through his virtuosic paces by Mr. Kramer's arrangements; I had no idea a human being could play so many notes in such a short time with such precision and beauty. WOW! Likewise we have heard fabulous solo interludes by each of these gifted artists through the years.

    Andrew Bove is from Massapequa Park, NY, and now enjoys a diverse career as a freelance musician based in New York City. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Bove has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, as well as many others.  He is also in demand as a chamber musician, and has performed and recorded with numerous groups including the Extension Ensemble, the American Brass Quintet, and Sequitur.  Andrew has also recorded for television, and was recently featured by Hip-Bone music in their series of CDs and instructional DVDs for young musicians.

    From 1999-2002, he was the recipient of the orchestral tuba fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival and has performed at many other festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Pierre Monteux School. Mr. Bove is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Northwestern University, and is currently a faculty member at the Bar Harbor Brass Week, Sarah Lawrence College and Kean University.

Do come and join us to continue the celebration of our 25th Anniversary Season with a rousing and fun afternoon in the presence of the Bombastiq Brass Quintet, with many thanks to the ongoing support of the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation!