The Pitt Jazz Ensemble's fall concert will feature music of classic jazz composers including Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Horace Silver, Oliver Nelson & Charles Mingus. You'll hear some new arrangements of jazz standards by these legendary composers, all performed by our talented University of Pittsburgh students.
Faculty and Students perform Billy Strayhorn Songs and other expressions inspired by the great man and his music. This free program will feature Geri Allen, Ralph Guzzi, Jeff Mangone, Joe Negri, Neil Newton, Ken Powell, Yoko Suzuki, John Bagnato, Chris Capizzi, Ellie Martin, John Petrucelli, Jacquelyn Brown, Ben Clifton, Chris Connell, Garret Grube, Daniel Leon, Matt Leonard, Jonathan Lucks, Nick Marco, Ryan McMasters, Dasi Nanji, John O’Brien, Cailyn Pease, and Matt Volk.
Ralph Guzzi and Pitt's Jazz Ensemble will perform as special guests on a program hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. Under the direction of Eric DeFade, The CMU Jazz Orchestra will perform music made famous by modern big bands - Thad Jones, Woody Herman and more. The highlight of the concert promises to be a high energy rendition of Chick Corea's latin music classic La Fiesta.
We are proud to present an evening with the Pitt Jazz Ensemble featuring Master Drummer Carl Allen and Pittsburgh's own Jazz Master Dwayne Dolphin.
The Pitt Jazz Ensemble hosts the Carnegie Mellon University Jazz Orchestra and bands from Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts High School and Middle School in a celebration of big band jazz.
UPDATE: The start time for this event has been moved earlier from 4 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Pitt Arts will host its second annual Arts Festival on Friday, September 5 and once again the slate of performers will highlight some of our outstanding Department of Music students. Our string quartet, featuring violinists Jennifer Hess and Olivia Jackson, cellist Eric Gratta and violin and viola instructor/orchestra director Roger Zahab on viola, will kick off the festival at noon on the porch of the William Pitt Union. Later on, at 3:30, members of the Pitt Jazz Ensemble will take to the WPU porch to entertain Festival attendees.
Ralph Guzzi leads the Pitt Jazz Ensemble in big band standards and holiday classics.
Vocalist Chloe Wieczorek will present a recital of jazz standards including songs by Jerome Kern ("The Way You Look Tonight"), Betty Carter ("Bluebird of Happiness"), George Gershwin ("Summertime"), and many more. Joining Wieczorek are pianist Ben Clifton, drummer Nick Volk, bassist Charlie Scott, and saxophonist Nicholas Amoscato.
The recital is free but donations for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network will be accepted and greatly appreciated.
Come out to the first ever Spring Student Jazz Festival at Pitt to hear Westminster College and Pitt Jazz Bands play classics of the big band repertoire, new arrangements and more. The two ensembles will share a program that features classics of the jazz repertoire from Chick Corea’s “Spain” to Thelonius Monk’s “Little Rootie Tootie.” The Pitt Jazz Ensemble’s portion of the program will highlight arrangements by from some of the band's members including Nick Amoscato’s arrangement of “The Girl from Ipanema” David Rohr’s arrangements of “Got ’em” and “Beautiful Love.”
Students in the Jazz Arranging class will give a public performance of their arrangements on Monday, December 2. The performance will feature a jazz combo comprising Nick Amoscato (tenor sax), John Bagnato (guitar), Chris Capizzi (piano), and Yoko Suzuki (alto sax and course instructor).