The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA will host Grammy-nominated pianist Matt Herskowitz, his trio MaDFusion, and several accomplished musicians for Jazz and Beyond at 8pm on August 11. The evening will feature performances by classical guitarist Bert Lams, flutist and composer Carol Alban and flutist Nancy Tyler. Jazz and Beyond is a benefit show that raises funds for the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA and its many theater classes, programs and services.
Tickets for the Jazz and Beyond performance are $15 for general admission, $10 for senior citizens and can be purchased at www.theatermania.com, keyword: Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater. The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater is located in the West Side YMCA at 5 West 63rd Street (between Broadway and Central Park West). Theatergoers should use the entrance on 64th Street. For more information, contact Kimberly Loren Mulvaney, Artistic and Managing Director, The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, at 212-875-4292.
About the Musicians
Matt Herskowitz is a pianist, composer, songwriter and arranger who has distinguished himself in several musical genres. His 2007 solo piano release, Matt Herskowitz Plays Gershwin (Disques Tout Crin), featuring Gershwin's great solo arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue and Matt's own original solo arrangements of the Concerto in F and Cuban Overture, is in nomination this year for Quebec's prestigious Prix Opus. It also made Montreal's prominent quotidian La Presse's list of top 10 jazz albums of the year. His 2006 solo release, Gabriel's Message, which features his original arrangements and compositions based on popular Christmas themes, was nominated for Qu?'s prestigious Félix award in 2007.
Matt's performance on the soundtrack of the Grammy-nominated film The Triplets of Belleville has earned him much popular and critical acclaim. He performs Bach's Prelude in C minor in the film, loosely posing as Glenn Gould, and Bach à la Jazz, his own jazz arrangement of the same Bach prelude, which is also featured on the award-winning hit soundtrack CD of the film. Matt also recorded a solo improvisation in Robert Lepage's film La Face Cachée de la Lune in 2003. In 1997 he won first prize at the Orford International Piano Competition, which led to his recording of Glazunov's 2nd Piano Concerto with I Musici de Montreal for Chandos Records in 1998. The recording was hailed by Strad Magazine as "by far the best recording on disc."
As jazz pianist with his group MaFusion, which includes Mat Fieldes, David Rozenblatt, he's performed at major festivals around the world, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Etnafest music festival in Italy, the Rhino Jazz Festival in France, and the Hamburg and Bremen international music festivals in Germany, as well as a nine city tour of Belgium. Their debut recording, Forget Me Not, received wide critical acclaim, and was also nominated for Félix award in 2005. Dave Brubeck, upon hearing the album, wrote to Matt and commented: "Hearing such technique almost ruined my day. This is the final straw, I'd better retire now." Barry Manilow, after hearing this recording, invited Matt and his trio to join him on his 2007 Christmas release for Hallmark, In The Swing Of Christmas, which has just been nominated for a Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Album.
As composer/soloist, Matt recently premiered his new piano concerto, Undertow, with Absolute Ensemble at the Bremen International Musikfest in Bremen, Germany. The piece was part of a program called "Reinventions", in which 5 composers were asked to write original pieces based on Bach Inventions. Undertow was one of four major pieces composed for the festival. One reviewer wrote: "Matt Herskowitz proved himself a highly energetic rhythmian, without comparison in his mastery of the piano... he also conjured up absolutely lyrical moments of the compositional structure of his Bach Invention." His other works for piano and orchestra include his Chorale and Variations on a Theme of Dave Brubeck, which he performed with the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal in 1998 for Radio-Canada broadcast, Serial Blues, which he recorded with Absolute Ensemble for Enja Records in 2000, and several performances of smaller crossover works for piano and chamber orchestra from 2002 to the present. Upcoming projects include the premier of a new piece for jazz piano trio, violin and cello in the spring of 2009, commissioned by the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, the premier of a new concerto for bandoneon and orchestra in the fall of 2009, commissioned by Absolute Ensemble, and several performances of his solo Gershwin program in festivals in Europe and Canada throughout 2009.
