Write It Down Or Improvise?
December 6 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Free – $45.00
Write It Down Or Improvise?
Jazz Meets Classical
Sunday, December 6, 2 PM (Doors 1 PM)
Tickets: $45
Featuring:
- Lana Auerbach, violin
- Miriam Liske Doorandish, cello
- Andrew Levine, piano
- David Morgan, piano
The impact of jazz on American Classical and Theater music is deep and rich, and in this meeting of two trios- one jazz, one classical- we will explore how jazz has entered the classical world through a host of composers who are comfortable crossing boundaries.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Lana Auerbach, Violin
Lana Auerbach is a versatile violinist, fiddler, and educator based in Newtown, Connecticut, whose career spans classical concert stages, chamber series, and roots music traditions across the Northeast. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory (BM) and Bard College’s The Orchestra Now (MM), she serves as concertmaster of the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra, performs with ensembles like the Hudson Valley and Syracuse Orchestras, and leads her ensemble, the Solstice Piano Trio.
As a fiddle player, Lana performs with her string band Bugs on a Log and leads a community Old Time Jam in Redding, CT. Also a dedicated educator specializing in the Suzuki Method at the Newtown Suzuki School, she brings music to young audiences through Harmonious Tales—a creative series pairing storytelling with live bluegrass, folk, and chamber music arrangements.
Miriam Liske Doorandish, Cello
Raised in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Iranian-American cellist Miriam Liske-Doorandish is motivated by a love of collaboration that finds her equally at home in traditional chamber music settings and traditional fiddling sessions. At age 2, Miriam politely demanded her first instrument and began lessons with her mother, Lisa Liske. An eclectic performer, she has pursued contemporary, historical, and traditional classical performance during her studies at the Royal College of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Yale School of Music. As cellist of the exploratory ensemble Trio Ondata, Miriam is a recipient of the 2022 Fischoff Competition silver medal and the gold and audience prizes at the 2023 Yellow Springs Chamber Competition.
Noted for her “wonderful warmth and flexibility” and her “fresh and incisive style”, Miriam regularly performs at festivals and chamber series across the Northeast. A dedicated educator, she has also been recognized for her arts leadership in recent years, receiving support from The Secular Society and Oberlin’s Flint Initiative Grant. Miriam is currently based in New Haven, CT, where she plays with Trio Ondata, The Havenwood Quartet, and maintains an independent cello studio.
Andrew Levine, Piano
Andrew Levine, The Granite’s Resident Artist for classical music, has enjoyed a multifaceted career in the performing arts, working as a musician, arts administrator, educator, and producer.
Andrew served as managing director of The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, and as the executive director of The York Theatre Company. Currently, he is an adjunct faculty member at Western Connecticut State University, where he teaches theater management, and The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where he is an on-staff coach in the musical theater division.
At The Granite, Andrew curates, produces, and performs concerts and activities within the classical music, cabaret, and musical theater worlds.
David Morgan, Piano
David Morgan is a musician for life. For him, it’s music 24/7. After a childhood of playing in rock bands, competing in classical piano competitions, putting on solo Keith Emerson keyboard shows, and producing demos on his 4-track cassette recorder, he knew a life of music was the only soulful and logical choice. When he was 19, he moved to New Orleans to study with jazz legends Ellis Marsalis and Harold Battiste at The University of New Orleans.
Since migrating to the East Coast in 1992, he has had a rich career of touring, recording, producing, writing, and teaching. He has recorded and toured the world with his jazz trio, renowned vocalist Neshama Carlebach, Peter Himmelman and actress/songstress Jane Lynch, to name a few. His original music can be heard regularly on CBS and NBC sports telecasts and cable TV shows like Pawn Stars, Catfish, Counting Cars and American Restoration. This past June he was the musical director for the benefit concert, Trevor Live, in New York City.
Music Education has become a very important part of Morgan’s career. His rock band training program, The Music Shed is in its 9th season. He developed this program to give middle and high school musicians the opportunity to get extensive coaching in rock, jazz, and blues music in a weekly small group setting. Lately, Morgan has been producing and recording his students’ original music and plans to release a Music Shed Artists Vol.1 album in early 2018. He regularly performs and records with his quartet, Portal, a Connecticut band of brothers featuring Greg Wall, Matt Moadel, and Rich Zurkowski.
