Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota presents
Dick Hyman
Performing Improvs on Jazz Standards, Broadway and Film Scores
February 21 North Port Performing Arts Center
Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota continues its second season of its North Port concert series with a solo performance by legendary, Emmy Award-winning pianist Dick Hyman.
(Sarasota, Florida) Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s popular North Port concert series continues with a solo performance by legendary, Emmy Award-winning pianist Dick Hyman, Sunday, February 21, 3 p.m., at the North Port Performing Arts Center, 6400 West Price Boulevard, North Port. Hyman will perform works by Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Frederic Chopin, Eubie Blake, Scott Joplin, Thelonious Monk and original works. Reserved seat tickets are $30; students with ID, $10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.artistseriesconcerts.org; by calling the North Port Performing Arts Center’s box office at 941-426-8479; or by visiting the box office in person at 6400 West Price Boulevard, North Port.
Throughout a busy musical career that got underway in the early ’50s, Dick Hyman has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. His versatility in all of these areas has resulted in a long career involving film scores, orchestral compositions, concert appearances and well over 100 albums recorded under his own name. While developing a masterful facility for improvisation in his own piano style, Mr. Hyman has also investigated ragtime and the earliest periods of jazz and has researched and recorded the piano music of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Zez Confrey, Eubie Blake and Fats Waller, which he often features in his frequent recitals. Other solo recordings include the music of Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington. Some of his past recordings with combos are “From The Age Of Swing, Swing Is Here, Cheek To Cheek,” and “If Bix Played Gershwin,” plus numerous duet albums with cornetist Ruby Braff, and fellow pianists including Ralph Sutton, Shelly Berg, Derek Smith. In a very different vein, Mr. Hyman was one of the first to record on the Moog synthesizer, and his “Minotaur” landed on the Billboard charts.
In addition to his activities in the jazz and concert worlds, Mr. Hyman has had a prolific career in New York as a studio musician and won seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He acted as music director for such television programs as Benny Goodman’s final appearance (on PBS) and for In Performance at the White House. He received an Emmy for his original score for Sunshine’s on the Way, a daytime drama, and another for musical direction of a PBS special on Eubie Blake. He is a member of the Jazz Hall of Fame of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies and the New Jersey Jazz Society.
In years past, Dick Hyman was music director for Arthur Godfrey as well as orchestrator of the hit musical Sugar Babies. He has served as composer/arranger/conductor/pianist for the Woody Allen films Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Broadway Danny Rose, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says “I Love You”, Sweet and Lowdown, The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion and Melinda and Melinda. Other scores have included Moonstruck, Scott Joplin, The Lemon Sisters, and Alan and Naomi.
In the dance field, Mr. Hyman composed and performed the score for the Cleveland/San Jose Ballet Company’s Piano Man, and for several dances for Twyla Tharp.
Dick Hyman’s Century Of Jazz Piano, an encyclopedic series of solo performances, has been released on Arbors Records, while a transcription is published by Hal Leonard Music. Other newer recordings are with clarinetist Ken Peplowski, singer Heather Masse, and Mr. Hyman’s daughter, violinist Judy Hyman.
Joseph Holt, Artist Series Concert’s director of artist programs, says the organization is thrilled to be back in North Port for a second season.
“The audience response to our inaugural North Port series this past winter was better than we could ever have expected. We’re looking forward to continuing our second season with this legendary pianist.”
Artist Series Concerts’ 2016 North Port Series concludes on March 6 with “My Favorite Things: The Music of Rogers and Hammerstein,” featuring four outstanding solo vocalists and the Gloria Musicae Singers.
Since 1996, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota has presented an ever-expanding annual season of concerts by globally renowned and celebrated emerging artists. The 2015-2016 20th anniversary season runs through May 2016 and includes six concerts in its “Classical Recital Series,” four concerts in its “Pop Series,” three special concerts and the inaugural North Port concert series. Three “Lunch, Look and Listen” events were also scheduled. For more information about the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s 2014-2015 season, visit www.artistseriesconcerts.org or call 941-306-1202.
Artist Series Concerts Of Sarasota’s
Remaining 2015-2016 Season At A Glance
Classical Recital Series
Saturday and Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at the Historic Asolo Theater; 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. Tickets at 941-360-7399 or www.artistseriesconcerts.org.
- Akropolis Reed Quintet: Described by Fanfare Magazine as playing with “imagination, infallible musicality, and huge vitality,” the Akropolis Reed Quintet, (oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon and bass clarinet), is a cutting-edge ensemble that performs an innovative, living repertoire with acclaimed precision. February 20, 7:30 p.m., and February 21, 7:30 p.m.
- Trio Celeste: Violinist Iryna Krechkovsky, cellist Ross Gasworth, and pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks combine to form an exciting, dynamic and intelligent ensemble. They are each strong instrumentalists in their own right and have what only the best groups have; an understanding of each other’s emotions, the ability to play with both power and subtlety, and what can best be described as a spark. March 5, 7:30 p.m., and March 6, 7:30 p.m.
- Amit Peled is an Israeli-American cellist and virtuoso called a “larger than life presence on stage” (The Washington Post). Peled, a musician of profound artistry and charismatic stage presence, is known as one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the concert stage today. At 6’5″ tall (he was once a basketball player), Peled often surprises audiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music more accessible to wider audiences. April 9, 7:30 p.m., and April 10, 7:30 p.m.
- 20th Year Retrospective Celebration: As a close to the 20th anniversary season, Artist Series Concerts is bringing back favorites from past years. The performers that Sarasota audiences have loved before will be here again to entertain, celebrate and inspire. May 28 and 29, 7:30 p.m.
Pop Series
At the Historic Asolo Theater; 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. Tickets at 941-360-7399 or www.artistseriesconcerts.org.
- QuinTango, a touring quintet of two violins, cello, bass and piano, brings a century’s worth of tango repertoire to the concert stage with sizzling musicality and captivating narrative style. Winner of two consecutive WAMMIES, QuinTango is the only tango music group to have given a command performance at The White House. QuinTango has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” CNN, and network television in both the United States and Costa Rica. When QuinTango made its debut at Charleston’s Piccolo Festival, critic Robert Jones wrote exuberantly that “their concerts packed the place and sent the customers home tango crazy.” April 30, 7:30 p.m., and May 1, 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.
- “My Favorite Things,” Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, featuring acclaimed soloists Mara Bonde, soprano, Katherine Pracht, mezzo soprano, Aaron Blake, tenor, Marcus DeLoach, baritone, and the Gloria Musicae Singers: May 7:30 p.m., and May 8, 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Lunch, Look and Listen
One-hour concerts at 11 a.m. followed by lunch at 12:15 p.m. At Michael’s On East Ballroom, 1212 East Avenue South, Sarasota. Tickets at 941-306-1202.
- Miami Guitar Trio: February 18.
- Gulfshore Trio: Reiko Niiya, violin; Susannah Kelly, cello; William Dawson, piano: March 17.
Soiree Series
Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. and Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. At the Weisenborne/Fischer residence. Call for address. Tickets at 941-306-1202.
- Bob McDonald singing songs made famous by Broadway leading man John Raitt: March 27 & 28.
North Port Performing Arts Center Series
Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m. At the North Port Performing Arts Center, 6400 W. Price Blvd., North Port. Tickets at 941-306-1202.
- Dick Hyman in Concert. A solo performance by the legendary Emmy Award-winning pianist and composer, renowned for his 50-year career as one of America’s most prolific and versatile jazz musicians: February 21.
- “My Favorite Things: The Music of Rogers and Hammerstein.” Featuring the Qol Quartet, (Johanna Fincher, Robyn Rocklein, Adam Bielamowicz, and Christopher Holloway), and the Gloria Musicae Singers, directed by Joseph Holt: March 6.
Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota
Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota was formed in 1996 as the Artist Series of Sarasota. The group is a non-profit corporation based in Sarasota, FL, that prides itself on presenting several major national and international varieties of concert, opera, orchestral, Broadway and film performances throughout their season. The majority of the performances are staged at the restored Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling.
