Tag Archives: Local Artists

Julie Maniscalco Septet: The Washington Heights Jazz Festival

Staten Island based composer and music educator Julie Maniscalco is the 2023 Jazz WaHi Jazz Composition Commission Winner. “State of Affairs” is Julie’s piece commissioned by Jazz WaHi to premiere at the 2023 Washington Heights Jazz Festival. It is a six-movement suite for septet, reflecting various stages and events through the COVID-19 pandemic. From uncertainty surrounding the virus and quarantining to political unrest, this is an observation of society from the point of view of a New Yorker and educator.

In the past few years, Julie’s projects have received NYC Cultural Affairs grants, including the virtual performance of her debut project, Terroir: Music for Jazz Orchestra. Currently, she is a member of the Howard Gilman Foundation Artist Residency Cohort through Staten Island Arts, as well as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. Julie has premiered compositions at Carnegie Hall for both jazz band and symphonic band and has premiered and performed with the Jazz WaHi Composers Sextet.

Intended for music fans of all genres, Julie Maniscalco’s often genre-fluid compositional style marries Western classical instrumentation and orchestration with jazz. It sheds light on the evolution of the traditional big band into today’s jazz orchestra.

Beginning her journey at the College of Staten Island (City University of New York), Julie went on to continue her studies at William Paterson University (State University of New Jersey) earning a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and Music Management. After working in the music industry for a few years, she went on to explore a career in music education. She earned an Advanced Certificate in Music Education at Brooklyn College (CUNY) and later a Master’s Degree in Music Education, where she studied composition with Grammy award winning composer and bandleader, Arturo O’Farrill.
Julie Maniscalco has been a music educator in the New York City Public School System for almost ten years, teaching in programs for elementary and middle school age students, such as the Salute to Music Band Program. She credits working with her younger students and exploring music to finding her own identity as a composer.

Paul Corn – Alto Sax
Salim Washington – Tenor Sax
Mike Morreale – Trumpet
Jennifer Wharton – Bass Trombone
Mamiko Watanabe – Piano
Steve LaSpina – Bass
Joseph Chidiebere Emmanuel – Drums
tix at www.jazzwahi.org/jazz-fest

The Gotham Kings: The Washington Heights Jazz Festival

Gotham Kings is a high energy immersive jazz experience! Two-time Grammy nominated trumpeter Alphonso Horne has put together a band that weaves the sound of New Orleans into a rich musical fabric that demonstrates the history of the trumpet and the story of jazz. Inspired by the music of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, Gotham Kings uses the virtuosity of the young Louis Armstrong and innovative genius of King Oliver to take you on a journey of sound that encompasses rags, stomps, shouts and funk! The band has played in venues including Caramoor Jazz Festival, Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center and many more! Individually, members of the Gotham Kings have compiled a diverse resume of collaborations with top artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Michael Feinstein, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, The Colbert Show and more!

Prism Trio: The Washington Heights Jazz Festival

The Prism Trio is a collaboration between pianist Nicki Adams, bassist Eddy Khaimovich, and drummer Kenneth Salters. Playing together, the three become a prism that spreads light, in its many shades and colors, on audiences and listeners around New York City and across the world.
The Prism trio formed in 2022, initially as a duo between Eddy and Nicki, who met after years working as professional musicians in NYC. In their estimation, the divisions that box musical genres into different regions and eras is somewhat arbitrary. The trio strives to merge the works of creative geniuses without the confines of stylistic rigidity, echoing Ellington’s sentiment that the only two kinds of music are “good music and the other kind.”
Eddy has performed at major concert venues around the world, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Blue Note, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and Shanghai Opera House, in a variety of genres with leading artists, including Gloria Estefan, Roy Hargrove, Paquito D’Rivera, Oz Noy, James Moody, Fred Hersch, Itzhak Perelman, Zubin Mehta, and many more.
Nicki is a Steeplechase recording artist who has released six albums as a leader and recorded and performed with the likes of Francesco Mela, Corey Wilcox and Kassa Overall. While focusing on jazz, both Nicki and Eddy have also been strongly influenced by the works of classical composers.
Prism Trio is completed by inimitable drummer Kenneth Salters, an established star in the NYC jazz scene. Kenneth brings a quiet rhythmic fire to the trio and is equally attuned to feel and conceptual intricacies. Like the rest of the trio, Kenneth is a genre chameleon. With recent collaborations including Don Byron, Chris Potter, Rufus Reid, Aretha Franklin, Myron Walden, Elysian Fields and The Bloodsugars, Kenneth can swing with depth and emotion while bolstering the trio’s creative core.
In their commitment to music, The Prism trio summits the highest echelons of craft and innovation, bringing joy to listeners from all walks of life.

HVG Performing Arts Group Presents: Miranda Cuckson, violin and Blair McMillen, piano

Sunday, October 29 at 5 pm

HVG Performing Arts Group presents:
Miranda Cuckson, violin and Blair McMillen, piano

Two of the top recitalists in town, violinist Miranda Cuckson and pianist Blair McMillen have performed and recorded together for over a decade. They’ll play music by Beethoven, Prokofiev, Janáček and Ross Lee Finney at The Lounge at HVG on Sunday October 29 at 5 pm. The program expresses each of these composers’ responses to war and wartime.

The Lounge at Hudson View Gardens
128 Pinehurst Ave at W. 183rd Street (Manhattan)

Admission: $15 suggested donation
($12 seniors/children, children under 8 are free)

Inwood Art Works: Schemes and Dreams

Inwood Art Works presents

Schemes and Dreams

Friday, October 20, 2023 – 7:30pm

Good Shepherd Church – 608 Isham Street

Minimum Suggested Donation of $20 Adults, $5 Children. Pay online or at the door.

Performing a program featuring new experimental jazz compositions by Charlie Kirchen .

Composer, improviser, bassist, theorist, and Inwood resident, Charlie Kirchen present a new experimental jazz sextet— Schemes and Dreams —performing selections from the compositional haul of summer 2023. Featuring some of New York City’s finest improvisers, in this music Kirchen balances rigorous polyphonic craft alongside a deep respect for the registers of expression attainable through improvisation, all calibrated to get the most out of the remarkable acoustic environment of the Church of Good Shepherd.

Charlie Kirchen – bass and tunes

Caroline Davis – alto saxophone

Sam Decker – tenor saxophone

Gregg Belisle-Chi – guitar

Dov Manski – piano

Jason Nazary – drums

This project is made possible in part with funds from UMEZ Arts Engagement, a regrant program supported by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), and administered by LMCC.

All proceeds benefit Good Shepherd School.