Steinway Debut: Art and Jazz

From Connie Lester, Redfern: “Portraits of Jazz,” a mixed-media concert featuring the KSCS Jazz Ensemble, will be featured on Wed., Apr. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center.

The concert is directed by KSC artist-in-residence Don Baldini, celebrating his 30th jazz performance at Keene State.

KSC alumnus Michael Reilly will exhibit jazz-themed artwork in the lobby, and it will be projected on a screen during the performance. Reilly’s medium is casein (a milk-based paint) on paper. The artwork will be available for purchase.

Music will be a mixture of big-band classics, some old and some new. Guest performer Frank Newton, a tenor saxophonist from Amherst, Mass., will be the featured soloist.

The performance officially debuts the Redfern Arts Center’s newly acquired 1985 Steinway D-model 9-foot grand piano, made possible through donations from alumni and friends of KSC, who will be invited to attend the event.

Baldini came to Keene State in 1992 after a professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He appeared for 13 years with The Tonight Show Orchestra and toured with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, and the Harry James and Toshiko-Akyoshi/Lew Tabakin Bands. He currently appears with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Dartmouth Symphony, Opera North, and the Keene Chamber Orchestra. In addition to directing the KSC Jazz Ensemble, he is the conductor of the KSC Chamber Orchestra and teaches music theory and jazz history.

For tickets, call 8-2168.