Lineup Announced for Pittsfield CityJazz Festival Tickets Now on Sale for Expanded Oct. 10-19 Event.PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival today announced the lineup for an expanded 10-day event that kicks off on Columbus Day Columbus Day, holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. It has been traditionally celebrated on Oct. 12 throughout most of the United States, parts of Canada, and in several of the Latin American republics. weekend and presents the best of both local and international performers. The fourth annual festival, Oct. 10-19, will feature "Jazz around Verb 1. jazz around - wander aimlessly in search of pleasuregad, gallivant rove, stray, roam, vagabond, wander, swan, ramble, range, drift, tramp, cast, roll - move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The town," highlighting regionally-based artists on Oct. 10-12; Jazz in School, with week-long performances and presentations in Pittsfield's public schools; and a series of headliner concerts. Events comprise a variety of formats, and will take place at several venues throughout downtown Pittsfield, the seat of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts. Many events are free to the public, starting with a noon-hour kickoff on Friday, Oct. 10, with the Eagles Stage Band, the Jazz unit of Pittsfield's own Eagles Band. Columbus weekend then features local performers in restaurants and lounges around Pittsfield. Concerts get under way on Wednesday, Oct. 15, when the Noah Baerman Noah Baerman (born 1974 in New Haven, Connecticut) is jazz pianist who began studying piano at age eight. He studied at the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven and earned his bachelor's and Master's degrees in jazz studies from the Mason Gross School of the Arts of Trio performs at the Berkshire Athenaeum The Berkshire Athenaeum is a public library (1872) based on a previously private athenaeum, and now located at 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the Berkshires, USA. Like many New England libraries, the Berkshire Athenaeum started as a private organization. . Baerman (www.NoahBaerman.com) is a pianist, composer, and educator, and has several CDs to his name. He recently was profiled on NPR's Piano Jazz Piano Jazz is a weekly one hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio. It started in 1978 and has always been hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland. It is the longest running cultural program on NPR. with Marian McPartland Marian McPartland (b. March 20, 1918), born Margaret Marian Turner in Slough, England, is a jazz pianist, violinist and host of "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" on National Public Radio. The jazz critic Scott Yanow has said that McPartland is "... . Attendance is free. On Thursday, Oct. 16, acclaimed composer Evan Lurie premieres his "Improvisations on 'To Kill a Mockingbird'," in a free concert at the Berkshire Museum The Berkshire Museum is a local museum in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, USA. The museum was founded in 1903 by Zenas Crane, grandson of the founder of paper-maker Crane & Company, under the auspices of the Berkshire Athenaeum. . Written for the Festival, Lurie's work is part of Pittsfield's "Big Read" project, underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Independent agency of the U.S. government that supports the creation, dissemination, and performance of the arts. It was created by the U.S. . A founding member of the Lounge Lizards, Lurie is the musical director of Nickelodeon's Emmy Award-winning preschool show, The Backyardigans, and will be appearing with his septet of accomplished NY-based musicians. The Oct. 17 concert features "Jazz Meets Symphony," with the New Black Eagle Jazz Band and the Pittsfield CityJazz Youth Orchestra, at the historic Colonial Theatre This article is about the theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. For other uses, see Colonial Theatre (disambiguation). The Colonial Theatre is the oldest continually-operating theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. . In addition to a full set by themselves, the Black Eagles (www.BlackEagles.com) will perform several of their traditional Jazz pieces that have been adapted for small symphony, with an orchestra comprising student musicians from Berkshire County high schools in Pittsfield, Dalton, Great Barrington Great Barrington is the name of more than one place:
For the first time, the festival will feature an evening of Jazz Vocals, spotlighting the groups of Terry Roiger and Ron Gill. Roiger (www.TeriRoiger.com) has made a name for herself with the repertoire of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, while Gill (www.Ron-Gill.com) has just released a CD of songs by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. The Jazz vocalists will perform on Saturday, Oct. 18, in a cabaret setting at Pittsfield's Crowne Plaza Hotel. The headliner performances conclude on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, with "Organic Jazz, the Two Faces of Barbara Dennerlein" showcasing her formidable solo talents at the pipe organ and Hammond B3. The concert is presented under the sponsorship of the Berkshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists, or AGO, is a national organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the USA, headquartered in New York City. It was founded in 1896 as both an educational and service organization. . Germany-based Dennerlein (www.BarbaraDennerlein.com), who is famous for her prowess in playing the baseline on the pedals, is concluding her first American tour with this matinee performance at Pittsfield's First Baptist Church First Baptist Church may refer to many churches: Canada
One festival highlight is the week-long jazz-in-the-schools program, with the Pittsfield Sister City Jazz Ambassadors appearing in assemblies in Pittsfield's public schools. The group has represented Pittsfield at several exchanges in Italy and Ireland, helping spread the message about Jazz, America's cultural gift to the world. The event is an activity of Cultural Pittsfield, the mayor's Office of Cultural Development, and is co-sponsored by the Berkshire Music School. Among the underwriters for this year's events are: * The Legacy Banks Foundation * The Pittsfield Cultural Council * The Crowne Plaza Hotel * Greylock Federal Credit Union * The National Endowment for the Arts * Banulis Fund, Fidelity Charitable Trust/NY Times Foundation. Tickets for all events are on sale at the Colonial Theatre box office, www.TheColonialTheatre.org; a discount for all three weekend concerts is available by calling the box office, 413-997-4444. Costs for the concerts are $25-30, with student discounts available for the Oct. 17 and 19 concerts (Jazz Meets Symphony, and Organic Jazz). Links to artists' sites, as well as news updates, are posted regularly at www.PittsfieldCityJazz.org. |
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