Performance Music season kicks off with Anderson Trio
From left: woodwind virtuosos Peter and Will Anderson will perform at The University of Scranton Houlihan-McLean Center on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 7:30 p.m. The free concert by The Peter and Will Anderson Trio will also feature guitarist Alex Wintz.
Performance Music at The University of Scranton will kick off its fall 2017 schedule Sunday, Sept. 10, with a concert featuring a jazz trio led by woodwind virtuosos Peter and Will Anderson.
The concert, which will also feature guitarist Alex Wintz, will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission to the concert is free, just as it is for all Performance Music programming.
“Our thing is to try to always keep it free for the community,” said Performance Music Conductor and Director Cheryl Y. Boga. “We also want to make sure we’re bringing in fabulous stuff for our own students to hear that won’t break their budgets to attend.”
Washington, D.C., natives and Juilliard alums, the Andersons have earned a devoted following in recent years thanks to their innovative original music and unique interpretations of classic jazz compositions. The twins have performed in more than 40 states, and have headlined at a number of marquee venues, among them the Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Festival and Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center.
The list of accomplished musicians the Andersons have performed with is extensive, and includes the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D’Rivera, Kenny Barron, Bob Wilber and Albert “Tootie” Heath. They have played live on public radio’s “Prairie Home Companion,” and were featured with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks on the Grammy-winning soundtrack of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”
The Andersons recently wrapped up an extended engagement at New York City’s 59E59 Theaters, where their show, “Songbook Summit,” featured renditions of songs written by iconic 20th century composers George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers.
During the Andersons’ last visit to the University, they composed a song for the Performance Music jazz band titled “Fox in the Sauerkraut.”
Besides being phenomenally talented, the Andersons are also “the two nicest young men,” according to Boga.
“And they are such great and down-to-earth teachers that it blows my mind,” she said.
Those teaching skills will be on display when the Andersons hold a free woodwinds masterclass at the University on the afternoon of the concert. The class is open to amateur and professional saxophone, clarinet and flute players ages 16 and up. Those interested in taking part can email music@scranton.edu for further information.
“I try to make sure when choosing artists that they are people who will relate well to my students. They’re all either great teachers, or have the potential to be great teachers,” Boga said.
The masterclasses allow students the chance to become better players, as well as better all-around appreciators of music. According to Boga, the vast majority of Performance Music alumni have maintained their involvement in music in one way or another.
“One of the things we’re trying to do here,” she said, “is develop audiences for the future.”
For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more on the Andersons, visit peterandwillanderson.com.
