I’m super excited to be playing a solo piano set at the Virtual Kensington Market Jazz Festival. My set will be broadcast on Sunday, November 7 at 6:30 PM on the Kensington Jazz youtube channel.
I will be including a few excerpts from my latest project – a suite inspired by Diego Velazquez.
Check out the fabulous lineup of solo piano concerts, November 5-7
Thank you to Tom’s Place, and to all of the organizers and volunteers at this year’s festival.
I’m thrilled to be making a return visit to Mazzoleni Concert Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music on Sunday, October 4. I’ll be playing Duke Ellington’s Peer Gynt Suite (and other goodies) with my wonderful jazz quartet: Colleen Allen on all the reeds, George Koller on bass and Ethan Ardelli on drums. This will be our first live performance since the shutdown, and the Conservatory will be following all of the Covid-19 guidelines with a 50 person maximum in the hall seated socially distanced. You can be one of the lucky few to get a free ticket by logging into the Koerner Hall website at 12 noon sharp on Sept 28. 
I’m so excited to be playing this wonderful concert of Duke Ellington Suites with my fabulous band: Colleen Allen (flute, clarinet, sax), George Koller (bass) and Ethan Ardelli (drums). We’ll be playing excerpts from The Nutcracker, Peer Gynt and an original Suite entitled Night Creature. Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Suites are creative, original, and super fun to play. I’ll also be previewing a couple of excerpts from my own Suite entitled Las Meninas, inspired by Velazquez. The concerts are being presented by Canzona on Feb 2 & 3. The first concert is on Toronto Island, and the second is at St. George the Martyr Church in Toronto. More details can be found on my shows page.
I’m really looking forward to participating in this concert presented by Michael Wrycraft on Saturday, January 18. Various bands will be performing James Taylor’s music. I’ll be playing a couple of gorgeous rarities with David Woodhead’s Oriana Quartet. Info and tix
Please join us this Mother’s Day, May 12 for our 3rd annual Mom’s Night Out! I’m so excited to be back at the wonderful Jazz Bistro with two amazing musicians: George Koller on bass and Ethan Ardelli on drums. We’d love to see you with or sans mom!
Be sure to call to reserve a table for dining (416) 363-5299.
I discovered Billy Strayhorn’s amazing symphonic jazz version of Tchaikovsky’s iconic “Nutracker Suite” last June for a concert at the Barrie Jazz Festival with my jazz quartet. Colleen Allen was the first musician I thought of who could re-imagine the orchestral writing with her wide instrumental palette from piccolo to bass clarinet and all of the saxophones. Strayhorn’s arrangement for the Duke Ellington orchestra is imaginative, quirky and hugely fun to play. With titles such as “Sugar Rum Cherry”, “Peanut Brittle Brigade” and “Chinoiserie” Strayhorn breathes new life into one of the most beloved orchestral suites ever written.
We’ll also be celebrating the last night of Chanukah with a favorite arrangement of mine combining Sting’s “Soul Cake” and a beautiful Chanukah melody. And of course, we’ll be sprinkling in some of our favourite Vince Guaraldi “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” classics.
We’d love you to celebrate the season with us and the wonderful Jazz Bistro!
Thank you, Marie Byers Photography and the Home Smith Jazz Bar at the Old Mill Inn!
is this exciting, or what?
No, I’m not performing WITH Kathleen Battle and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (someday, perhaps?)
I’ll be performing with my jazz trio at Mazzoleni Hall in the Royal Conservatory of Music on September 30 at 1PM as part of the Koerner Hall 10th Anniversary Opening Festival. Tickets are free, but you have to grab them the moment they become available on Sept. 24 at 10AM. Details on my event page.
on May 13 The Toronto Star published an interview with me about my love of scrabble. The article was promoting a fundraiser called “Scrabble with the Stars” which raises money for PAL (Performing Arts Lodges) Canada. PAL provides housing and support for elderly and retired performing artists. It’s an incredible organization which I am proud to help support any way I can – especially by playing scrabble! I talk about scrabble and jazz and how they’re both related.
Here is a link to the article.
I thought it was pretty cool that they chose to use a photo from my performance of Buster Keaton’s “Sherlock Jr.” at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. After all, writing a silent film score is certainly a puzzle.
And just in case you haven’t seen the film, here it is!
I’m so thrilled to be playing 2 shows on Mother’s Day at the wonderful Jazz Bistro in Toronto. I just love playing there! The piano is fabulous, the food is great and the sound is second to none. I’m super excited to be playing with multi-instrumentalist Colleen Allen and bassist George Koller. You can find more details on my show page.
