NJPAC - Bravo Program Book

meet the artists
meet the artists
Few composers capture their time
and become the iconic voice of their
age. Leonard Bernstein found his
“voice” in the early 1940s and projected
the sound of urban and urbane
America from the period of World War II
to the anti-war movements of the 1970s
and the restoration of freedom in
Europe, with the fall of the Berlin Wall
and Soviet communism.
Writing for small ensembles, symphony
orchestras, Broadway, film and opera
houses, Leonard Bernstein projected a
simple message of understanding and
hope, employing both complex and
simple forms and styles, yet always
sounding like “Bernstein” — a voice best
known in his score to West Side Story.
Exploring his output, one finds the
famous and obscure works that both are
reflective of their times and somehow
also preserve and encapsulate them.
Everywhere one hears his internal
struggle to sound inevitable as the
tumultuous second half of the 20th century
unfolded itself. He is at once linked
with the music of Benjamin Britten and
Dimitri Shostakovich, as well as
George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.
While his music finds its spiritual
home in his worldview, his music speaks
with a New York accent, even though
he was born in Massachusetts. His love
affair with Europe and his sensitivity to
his Russian and Jewish roots are never
far from his lyrical expressivity, with its
fragile sense of optimism, its loneliness,
its humor and its demand for acceptance.
All of this is wrapped in the rhythmic
propulsion of a great American urban
landscape. He has left us an aural image
of his time and place and, at the same
time, an eternal voice of humanity.
GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist
Bill Charlap has performed with
many of the leading artists of our time,
from Phil Woods and Benny Carter to
Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis.
He is acclaimed for his interpretations
of the American popular songbook,
and has recorded albums featuring
the music of Hoagy Carmichael,
Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin,
Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers
and Duke Ellington.
The Bill Charlap Trio, with bassist
Peter Washington and drummer
Kenny Washington, marks its 23rd year
together this season, and is recognized
as one of the leading ensembles in jazz.
The trio earned GRAMMY® nominations
for 2017’s Uptown Downtown (Impulse!/
Verve) and Somewhere: The Songs of
Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap
Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (both
on the Blue Note label). Their 2016 album
Notes from New York (Impulse!/Verve)
earned a five-star review in DownBeat,
which hailed it as “a master class in
class.” The trio’s most recent recording
features them supporting
Tony Bennet and Diana Krall on the
chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominated
album Love is Here to Stay. The Bill
Charlap Trio tours all over the world and
their New York engagements include
regular appearances at Jazz at Lincoln
Center and the Village Vanguard.
Last summer, Charlap celebrated
his 15th year as artistic director of the
92nd Street Y’s Jazz in July Festival.
He has also produced concerts for Jazz
at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing
Arts Center (NJPAC), the Chicago
Symphony Center and the Hollywood
Bowl. He is Director of Jazz Studies at
William Paterson University in Wayne,
New Jersey. Founded in 1973,
the program is one of the longestrunning
and most respected jazz
programs in the world.
FOR A FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, VISIT NJPAC.ORG OR CALL 1.888.GO.NJPAC
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