Fred Hersch Performs at Maverick Concert Hall, 8/21

Celebrated jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch makes his Maverick debut with a solo concert on Saturday, August 21, at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $5 for students with proper ID. There are 28 reserved seats available for $40. For more ticket information, please visit the webiste, http://www.maverickconcerts.org/.

Among the most prolific and widely-praised solo jazz pianists of his generation, Fred Hersch has earned a place among the foremost jazz artists in the world today. He is widely recognized for his ability to steadfastly create a unique body of original works while reinventing the standard jazz repertoire-investing time-tested classics with keen insight, fresh ideas, and extraordinary technique. Mr. Hersch has explored the jazz tradition to its fullest even as he opens new and undiscovered doors.

From the late '70s onward, Mr. Hersch has solidified a reputation as a versatile jazz master. His numerous accomplishments include three Grammy nominations and a 2003 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He has appeared on more than one hundred recordings, including more than two dozen albums as bandleader or solo pianist.

Mr. Hersch's compositions are a vital part of his live concerts and recordings. His 2003 work Leaves of Grass, a large-scale setting of Walt Whitman's poetry, played to sold-out halls on a nationwide tour. He has received commissions from The Gilmore Keyboard Festival, The Doris Duke Foundation, The Miller Theatre at Columbia University, The Gramercy Trio and The Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

He has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and on a wide variety of National Public Radio programs including Fresh Air, Jazz Set, Studio 360, and Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. Hersch has also been awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship, grants from The National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer, and six composition residencies at The MacDowell Colony. A committed educator, Fred has taught at The New School and the Manhattan School of Music; he is currently a visiting professor at Western Michigan University and is on the Jazz Studies faculty of The New England Conservatory. He has been a passionate spokesman and fund-raiser for AIDS services and education agencies since 1993.

Maverick Concerts is the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America and a winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Built by Maverick Art Colony founder Hervey White, Maverick Concert Hall first opened its doors to music lovers in 1916. The rustic hall is located at 120 Maverick Road, Woodstock, N.Y. 12498. With acoustics ideally suited to the intimacy of live chamber music performance, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For additional details, visit www.maverickconcerts.org or call Maverick's recorded message line at 845-679-8217.

Photo Credit: David Bartolomi