Wharton Arts' SALON SERIES to Open With Performance by Matt King

Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (WIPA) kicks off the virtual Salon Series on Sunday, October 4 at 7:00 p.m. on WhartonArts.tv. Replacing cabaret-style seating on stage alongside the performers in Wharton's black box theatre, the intimate concert series continues via livestream free of charge. Audience members are invited to watch from the comfort of home and share on social media the wine and cheese pairings of their choice while viewing. For full concert details, visit WhartonArts.org.

The Sunday evening series opens with pianist, composer, and arranger Matt King performing selections from the Great American Songbook, jazz classics, and original compositions. A former Composition Fellowship recipient from the NJ State Council on the Arts, King has garnered awards as a semi-finalist at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition (2000). He toured extensively with the iconic group Blood, Sweat & Tears and served as music director for jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb. He has performed with symphony orchestras across the United States and appeared on The Today Show and Good Morning America. He can be heard at Holland's renowned North Sea Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Cape Town Jazz Festival.

The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts' mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education to a wide range of students in a supportive and inclusive environment, where striving for personal excellence inspires and connects those we teach to the communities we serve.

Wharton is New Jersey's largest independent non-profit community performing arts education center serving over 1,200 students through a range of classes and ensembles including the 15 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, which serve 500 students in grades 3 - 12 by audition. Beginning with Out of the Box Music and Pathways classes for young children, Wharton offers private lessons, group classes, and ensembles for all ages and all abilities at the Performing Arts School. With the belief in the positive and unifying influence of music and the performing arts and that arts education should be accessible to all people regardless of their ability to pay, Wharton teaches all instruments and voice and has a robust musical theater program. Based in Paterson, New Jersey, the Paterson Music Project is an El Sistema-inspired program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts that uses music as a vehicle for social change by empowering and inspiring children through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing.

Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts is located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence and Paterson, NJ and reaches students from 10 counties. All of Wharton's extraordinary faculty members and conductors hold degrees in their teaching specialty and have been vetted and trained to enable our students to achieve their personal best.