Concerts
Thank you for your support of the SUNY Schenectady School of Music.
Unless noted, concerts are free and take place in Carl B. Taylor Auditorium.
September
Wednesday, September 9
Faculty Recital, 12 p.m.
Friday, September 18
A Place for Jazz: Pilc Moutin Hoenig Trio, 7 p.m.
$25 at the door; $26.95 per person, purchased online
Tickets available through A Place for Jazz
Pilc Moutin Hoenig is a world-renowned jazz trio comprising pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, bassist François Moutin, and drummer Ari Hoenig. Known for their extraordinary synergy and fearless improvisational approach, the trio combines technical mastery with boundless creativity. Their music, rooted in the jazz tradition, often transcends boundaries, weaving complex rhythms, dynamic interplay, and emotionally charged melodies. Each member is a celebrated artist in their own right, contributing unique voices that merge into an electrifying and unpredictable collective sound. Together, they have captivated audiences worldwide with performances that are as intellectually stimulating as they are viscerally moving.
October
Friday, October 2
A Place for Jazz: Nicole Zuraitis Quartet, 7 p.m.
$25 at the door; $26.95 per person, purchased online
Tickets available through A Place for Jazz
Nicole Zuraitis is a 2X GRAMMY®-winning and 6X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter (nominated in 4 distinct categories: Best Jazz Vocal Album, Best Large Jazz Ensemble, Best Jazz Performance and Best Arrangement), pianist and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole has positioned herself as one of the top artists and “prolific songwriters” (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond, or as she likes to call it, The Modern Songbook.
Wednesday, October 14
Chamber Music Series: 4-Hands Piano, 7 p.m.
The Chamber Music Series at SUNY Schenectady presents a piano four-hands recital featuring pianists Megan Glikes and Mark Evans. The program includes Mozart’s Sonata in D Major, Debussy’s Petite Suite, selections from Dvořák’s Legends, and selections from Brahms’s Hungarian Dances and Liebeslieder Waltzes.
Friday, October 16
Friends of Chamber Music Masterclass: Poiesis Quartet, 4 p.m.
School of Music, Room 131
Friday, October 16
A Place for Jazz: The Cookers, 7 p.m.
$25 at the door; $26.95 per person, purchased online
Tickets available through A Place for Jazz
Experience counts, especially in jazz. The more time musicians spend interpreting tunes and interacting with others, the more articulation an audience can expect. You can hear the fruits of such work in the expressive language The Cookers bring to the bandstand and to their six critically acclaimed recordings, Warriors, Cast the First Stone, Believe, Time and Time Again (which was the iTunes Jazz CD of the year in 2014), The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart and Look Out!. This exciting all-star septet summons up an aggressive mid ‘60s spirit with a potent collection of expansive post-bop originals marked by all the requisite killer instincts and pyrotechnic playing expected of some of the heaviest hitters on the scene today.
Friday, October 30
A Place for Jazz: Ernie Watts Quartet, 7 p.m.
$25 at the door; $26.95 per person, purchased online
Tickets available through A Place for Jazz
Two-time GRAMMY-winner Ernie Watts first picked up a saxophone over 60 years ago, at 13. He heard John Coltrane at 14, on the album Kind of Blue, and says, “It was as though somebody put my hand into a light socket.” His course in life was set.
Recently Ernie has also been featured in multi-genre bands that take his jazz saxophone into other traditions. Dr. L. Subramaniam, the celebrated South Indian Classical violinist, and his traditional Indian group added Ernie as part of Global Fusion, and Corky Siegel’s ChamberBlues, with great blues player Siegel on harmonica, piano and vocals, plus a tabla player and a string quartet, now often includes the Watts saxophones.
Watts does master classes and student concerts at colleges and universities. He also performs as a feature artist with big bands such as the WDR Radio Band in Cologne Germany, with symphonies, and many other groups. His U.S. Quartet features Marc Seales on piano, Bruce Lett on bass, and Bob Leatherbarrow on drums, all gifted players who Watts has known for years. He says of the group, “We now don’t just play music, we become music.”
November
Wednesday, November 4
Musicians of Ma’alwyck: A Fashionable Assembly, 12 p.m.
Featuring the works of J.C. Bach, Handel, Corri, and Shield
Friday, November 13
A Place for Jazz: Ali Ryerson Quartet, 7 p.m.
$25 at the door; $26.95 per person, purchased online
Tickets available through A Place for Jazz
With a career spanning five decades, jazz flutist Ali Ryerson has consistently ranked among the top flutists in the Downbeat Jazz Poll for well over a decade. Born in 1952 in New York City, Ali grew up in a musical family. Her father, Art Ryerson, was a renowned jazz guitarist who got his start with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, and later became a top studio player in NYC, recording with everyone from Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker, and Sarah Vaughan, to Frank Sinatra. Ali Ryerson has carried on the family tradition, becoming an international touring/recording artist, with performances ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to the Blue Note (NYC and Japan), plus festival appearances worldwide. Ryerson has released over two dozen albums on major jazz labels, including Concord Records, DMP, Capri, and legendary jazz producer Bob Thiele’s final jazz label, Red Baron. When Ryerson’s groundbreaking Jazz Flute Big Band released their debut CD, Game Changer, on Capri Records, the album hit the ‘TOP 10’ on the U.S. Jazz Charts for six straight weeks.
Sunday, November 15
Capital Region Wind Ensemble: The Sad Clown, 3 p.m.
Tickets: $10 for adults; $8 for students; $5 for kids under 10
Loneliness, Alienation, and the Mask of Comedy
Schuman, Circus Overture
Newman, Moon by Night
Soderberg, Death of Pierrot
Stravinsky, Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Stravinsky, Circus Polka
Koh, Lament
Tchaikovsky, Dance of the Jesters
Sunday, November 22
Friends of Chamber Music Masterclass: Escher Quartet, 10 a.m.
School of Music, Room 131
Monday, November 23
Music Business Lecture: Stan Denis, 2:30 p.m.
School of Music, Room 120
Stan Denis is a seasoned live sound engineer, systems designer, and the driving force
behind Denis Entertainment Group (DEG). With decades of experience in audio production and venue sound design, Stan
leads DEG with a focus on technical excellence, creative collaboration, and tailored
solutions for artists, venues, and events.
Percussion Ensemble Concert, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, November 24
Percussion Recital, 12:30 p.m.
Vocal Chamber Ensemble Concert, 7 p.m.
Monday, November 30
Winds & Strings Recital, 12 p.m.
Chorus Concert, 7 p.m.
First Reformed Church, 8 N. Church St., Schenectady, NY 12305
December
Tuesday, December 1
Guitar & Bass Recital, 12:30 p.m.
Brass & Guitar Ensemble Concert, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, December 2
Voice Recital, 12 p.m.
Jazz Combo & Jazz Ensemble, 7 p.m.
Thursday, December 3
Applied Lesson Recital, 12:30 p.m.
Wind Ensemble Concert, 7 p.m.
Monday, December 7
Piano Recital, 12 p.m.
Digital Music & Beat Production Listening Recital, 1 p.m.
Audio Listening Recital, 7 p.m.