George Wein News

Returning for its fourth year, Emerging Music Festival (EMF) features ten on-the-rise indie rock, pop, blues, and soul bands performing for thousands on the Bryant Park lawn. Almost all artists hail from the greater New York area, making EMF one of the city's largest celebrations of young local bands. Between sets, attendees can purchase beer and wine, eat food from local vendors curated by Hester Street Fair, borrow a free picnic blanket, learn to juggle, and play giant lawn games.

The Musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra present a companion piece to Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung cycle in partnership with jazz composer and pianist Valerie Capers and her musical collaborator, bassist John Robinson III. Wagner Takes the 'A' Train is a meeting of musical styles that will please both opera devotees and jazz lovers alike. In conversation with San Francisco Opera Dramaturg, Kip Cranna, Dr. Capers will reflect on the influences of Wagner and his mighty Ring cycle on her work as a composer. Proceeds benefit the African American Composers Initiative, dedicated to commissioning and presenting the work of African American composers, past and present. For more information. visit www.aacinitiative.org.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced that on the heels of Todd Barkan's recent National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Jazz Masters fellowship award -- the highest honor the U.S. bestows on jazz artists -- he will join its Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival as the featured host and D.J. broadcasting live from the SPAC amphitheater.

On Saturday, April 28 at 9:00 p.m., three-time Grammy Award-winning bassist John Patituccileads his world-class electric guitar quartet in an evening of blues, funk, jazz, and soul in Zankel Hall. Patitucci is joined by guitarists Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas, and drummerBrian Blade performing tracks from the group's critically-acclaimed debut recording Brooklyn, an album inspired by the vibrant, eclectic borough where Patitucci was born and raised. 

School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School in association with In Touch Entertainment is pleased to announce a new partnership with Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village. Every other Monday night, a house band rhythm section trio of students will perform for audiences.

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that three area residents will be honored at its 2018 Pell Awards Gala on Monday, May 21, 2018 in Providence.  Pawtucket-based designer and artist Morris Nathanson will receive a Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts. Longtime Providence philanthropist and arts advocate Jane S. Nelson will receive the Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts. The Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts will go to Jeannine Chartier in recognition of her work with VSA arts Rhode Island. Additional honorees will be announced at a later date.

Derrick Adams is a New York based, multidisciplinary artist working in performance, video, sound, textile- and paper-based collage, and multimedia sculpture. His practice is rooted in deconstructivist philosophies such as the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, and the marriage of complex and improbable forms. Through these techniques, Adams examines the force of popular culture and the media on the perception and construction of self-image.

The Bickford Theatre and Hot House Jazz Magazine salute the 2017 Fans Decision Jazz Awards with a holiday concert featuring Female Jazz Vocalist winner Champian Fulton and Male Rising Star winner King Solomon Hicks today, December 14. Joining the young stars will be the celebrated emcee for the awards ceremony, singer Antoinette Montague and surprise guests.

The Bickford Theatre and Hot House Jazz Magazine salute the 2017 Fans Decision Jazz Awards with a holiday concert featuring Female Jazz Vocalist winner Champian Fulton and Male Rising Star winner King Solomon Hicks on Thursday, December 14. Joining the young stars will be the celebrated emcee for the awards ceremony, singer Antoinette Montague and surprise guests.

Throughout the holiday season, students enrolled in Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens, one of the longest-running arts education programs at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), will entertain at concerts and events across Newark.

Grammy Award-winning jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell comes to Zankel Hall today, November 3 at 9:00 p.m. with a performance celebrating the golden age of Harlem. Journeying through the heart of the great African American songbook, Russell channels legendary singers like Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington with the swinging music of Fats Waller, Benny Carter, Irving Berlin, and others.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage presents the piano phenomenon, Hiromi who will join forces with harpist Edmar Casta eda for an electrifying collaboration on Monday, November 13 at 7:30pm.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater welcomes Randy Noojin back to the stage for three nights of music-filled storytelling in his new one-man show, Seeger, Today, October 12 through Saturday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m.

Grammy Award-winning jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell comes to Zankel Hall on Friday, November 3 at 9:00 p.m. with a performance celebrating the golden age of Harlem. Journeying through the heart of the great African American songbook, Russell channels legendary singers like Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington with the swinging music of Fats Waller, Benny Carter, Irving Berlin, and others.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater welcomes Randy Noojin back to the stage for three nights of music-filled storytelling in his new one-man show, Seeger, Thursday, October 12 through Saturday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m.

George Wein and James Moody, both legendary pioneers of jazz, are the inspirations for a pair of performance-driven programs created at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) to nurture the next generation of jazz talents.

Three-time Grammy nominee, jazz pianist Joey Alexander comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 8 pm.

The ASCAP Foundation, led by President Paul Williams, and the Newport Jazz Festival, led by Founder & Chairman George Wein, continue their joint effort to benefit emerging jazz talent for a second year. The Festival, one of the world's leading venues for jazz, will feature a performance by one of the recipients of the 2017 ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.

Trinity Repertory Company announces that Jessica Lange will be honored with the 2017 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the 21st annual Pell Awards Gala to be held on Monday, May 22, 2017 at the new WaterFire Arts Center in Providence.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre will celebrate the start of its 40th Milestone Season with a Benefit Dinner tonight, November 10th, at the Golden Unicorn (18 E. Broadway at Catherine Street) in Chinatown.