July 25th SZALON Program
1. Phyllis Chapell (vocals/guitar), Dave Posmontier (piano) and Ken Ulansey (saxophone/pennywhistle), perform their three original pieces/arrangements from Andrea’s Salon in Philadelphia
2. Clipper Erickson will perform Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann, Op. 20 by Clara Wieck-Schumann from Andrea’s Salon
3. Megnot Toggia, soprano and Sirapat Jittapirom, piano will perform “Cliff” and “Canyon” from Andrea Clearfield’s Rim of Love cantata to poetry by Manfred Fischbeck from Andrea’s Salon
4. Sharon Sable, vocals and Shawn Qaissaunee, guitar will be performing several songs from their eclectic songbook of jazz, pop and more from Andrea’s Salon
5. Paul Pinto will introduce and present a music video created with Kameron Neal for the Prototype Festival at the HERE Arts Center in New York
6. Diane Monroe will perform Fantasia #1 in Bb Major for solo violin by Georg Philipp Telemann from her home in Norristown, PA (I- Largo; II- Allegro moderato; III-Grave; IV- Allegro da capo, al fine)
7. Singer/songwriters Jan Garrett and JD Martin will perform two of their original songs from their home in the mountains of Colorado
8. Lydia Bain will perform a set of original compositions, while using musical movement and improvisational elements on violin and vocals from Aspen, CO
9. Brooke Campbell will perform original songs from her home in Brooklyn, NY
10. From her home in Center City Philadelphia, AJ Luca will perform piano/vocal selections from her upcoming solo album THE TABLE, as well as her arrangement of Sleeping at Last’s “Atlas: One”
Performer Bios, Program Information, and Link for Donations
Below you will find links that some of the performers have included where you can buy music and other merchandise, find additional content, or make a donation. Please consider supporting these musicians for donating their time and artistry this evening!
During these trying times for performers, your contributions are greatly appreciated.
For donations please click here, where you could contribute to the most current performance. To donate to specific performers, please see the links under their bios for the SZALON in which they performed.
Donations for the current SZALON will be collected on behalf of all performers by our fiscal sponsor, Crossroads Music. For questions about donations, please contact Gerardo Razumney at Zalon.Donations@AOL.com.
The SZALON is a labor of love. All team members are volunteering their time, including Andrea, who is also covering expenses. You may contribute to cover part of the SZALON expenses, by indicating this on the PayPal donation form.
Dave Posmontier, Ken Ulansey, & Phyllis Chapell
Dave, Ken and Phyllis have been blending their instruments and voices together for many years, recording in one another’s projects, mixing influences, and broadening each others’ musical outlooks.
Dave Posmontier has been playing piano professionally for the past 40 years. A pianist, organist, composer, arranger and teacher, he has performed and recorded with many jazz artists including Christian McBride, James Moody, Chris Potter, Duane Eubanks, Mickie Roker, Bobbie Durham, John Blake, John Swana, Mike Richmond, Bootsie Barnes, Tony Williams (sax), Bob Howell, Chico Huff, Larry McKenna, Steve Giordano, Grover Washington Jr., David "Fathead" Newman, and Johnny Hartman.
His Website: www.daveposmontier.com
Ken Ulansey, Penn Council for the Arts winner, plays alto and soprano sax and pennywhistle. He is a musical chameleon, having played contemporary classical music with Relâche, jazz with his own award-winning band, Latin music, and folk music with most of the area’s--and even the nation’s--leading songwriters. Besides leading his own wedding band (Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly!) that specializes in swing, Motown, klezmer, Latin, pop, zydeco and oldies, Ken has toured extensively in Europe, Asia and the States, played on nearly 200 recordings, and has worked in collaboration with dancers, film-makers, poets and storytellers.
His website: www.kenulansey.com
Phyllis Chapell performs a unique mix of jazz, originals, folk, pop and international music, including songs in up to 13 languages from the U.S., Brazil, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. She has performed in concert throughout the U.S., in Brazil, Latin America and Europe. She has been named one of the top 500 jazz vocalists of all time by Jazz Times.
Her website: www.phyllischapell.com
Clipper Erickson
Described as "one of the finest pianists of his generation…a consummate musician” by Fanfare, Clipper Erickson made his debut at age nineteen in Los Angeles as soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra and later studied at The Juilliard School, Yale University, and Indiana University, training with renowned British pianist John Ogdon. Erickson has won top prizes at international competitions and performs as soloist with orchestras throughout the US, as well as recitalist in venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space in New York. In 2016, Gramophone UK honored Clipper’s recording, My Cup Runneth Over – the Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett, as a critic’s choice and best album of the year. This album is the first of the complete piano works of this great African descent composer and continues to be featured on radio worldwide and streamed extensively. In response to the COVID19 pandemic, Clipper began an online series, Music for the Soul, which features music by composers of color and women in combination with other well-known masterworks – “the intersection of classical music and social justice.” Dr. Erickson teaches at Westminster Conservatory in Princeton and Temple University. Upcoming events and past concerts may be found on Clipper’s website: www.clippererickson.com.
Website: http://www.clippererickson.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/clipperericksonpiano
Spotify: Spotify – My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett
Facebook: www.facebook.com/clipperericksonpiano
Donate with PayPal: Donate (paypal.com)
Donate with Venmo: @clippererickson1
Megnot Toggie and Sirapat Jittapirom
Soprano Megnot Toggia recently graduated with her M.M. in Voice Performance from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. She has been seen in Opera Ithaca’s production of Gianni Schicchi as La Ciesca, Temple University Opera Theater’s production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore as Adina, and ENA Ensemble’s Fringe Festival production of Ganymede 5 as Rita.
Based in Philadelphia, pianist Sirapat Jittapirom has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, and her native country Thailand. She served as staff accompanist for Philadelphia Young Pianists Academy, The Villanova Singers, and The Choral Society of University of Pennsylvania from 2018-2019. In 2019-2021, Jittapirom was involved in Temple University's Boyer College of Music's Opera Theater productions of Donizetti's Elisir d'amore, Britten's The Turn of the Screw, and Strauss's Die Fledermaus as pianist/coach. She was the recipient of the Jacobs Music Steinway award in 2018, and the John T. Douglas Young Artist award in 2021. Her mentors include Lambert Orkis, and Ching-Yun Hu.
Andrea Clearfield is an award-winning composer of 160 works for orchestra, opera, chorus, chamber ensemble, dance and multimedia collaborations. Clearfield creates deep, emotive musical languages that build cultural and artistic bridges. She has composed 15 large-scale cantatas including one for The Philadelphia Orchestra. Recent works are inspired by Tibetan music fieldwork that she conducted in the Nepalese Himalaya. She is currently 2020-2023 Composer-in-Residence with National Concerts at Carnegie Hall and was the 2018-19 Steven R. Gerber Composer in Residence with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Her first opera, MILA, Great Sorcerer, to libretto by Jean-Claude van Itallie and Lois Walden was presented at the NYC Prototype Festival in 2019. Dr. Clearfield was awarded a 2020 Pew Center for Arts & Heritage International Residency Award, a 2016 Pew Fellowship in the Arts, two Independence Foundation awards and Fellowships at the Bellagio Center, American Academy in Rome, Yaddo, MacDowell, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and others. A strong advocate for community around the arts, she is founder and host of the renowned SALON featuring diverse styles of music since 1986. More at www.andreaclearfield.com
Sharon Sable and E. Shawn Qaissaunee
Sharon Sable and "Q" aka E. Shawn Qaissaunee (kay-saw'-nee) have been making music in the Mid-Atlantic region for more than ten years and have more than 50 years of combined experience between them. Their individual musical magic is multiplied when combined into their duo or larger group format. Most recently they have performed for Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and True Blue Jazz Festival.
Paul Pinto
Credit: Amanda Pinto
Paul Pinto is glad to be making sounds and imagery for people. He's a multi-disciplinary creator and performer, and band member of thingNY, Varispeed and LoveLoveLove. He’s performed Peter Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King, originated the role of Balaga in Dave Malloy's Great Comet of 1812, and wrote the autotuned opera Thomas Paine in Violence, and the dance arias 15 Photos. During COVID times, Paul’s created music for the Prototype Festival, Antigone (Colgate University), Mad Forest (Fisher Center), and Tartuffe (Moliere-in-the-Park), co-created online shows with thingNY, and made music videos for his songs Just Love and Dr. Peetee, and with Katelyn Halpern and Erin Rogers. Now he’s creating a multimedia installation about Whiteness with Kameron Neal, a string quartet for the Rhythm Method, a song cycle for Quince Ensemble, and a multitude of other gifts for a multitude of performers at a multitude of distances.
Website: pfpinto.com
Support him by buying his music at paulpinto.bandcamp.com
Here's a 40-second 360-degree music video I made last year using similar techniques:
Diane Monroe
Diane Monroe is a versatile violinist, composer, and educator. While in demand as a classical chamber artist, she gained visibility in the jazz community with membership as first violinist of the Max Roach Double Quartet, Uptown String Quartet and subsequently the String Trio of New York. Her performances with distinguished artists of many backgrounds include Odean Pope, Arnold Steinhardt, John Blake Jr., Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Badura-Skoda, Steve Wilson, Jon Faddis, Bobby Zankel, Tom Lawton, Michal Scmidt, Marie Christine Delbeau, Mark O’Connor, Tony Miceli, and Uri Caine. She performs regularly with her own duo-to-septet ensembles, in collaboration with dancers Germaine Ingram and Leah Stein, and with Philly’s own coveted story-teller, Charlotte Blake Alston. Monroe enjoys premiering works of contemporary composers within all genres, as well as of her own creations. In 2018, Ms. Monroe won both a Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship Award and Project Grant, which funded her suite for violin, string quartet, Kora, Banjo, percussion, bass, and narrator, Violin Woman, African Dreams. Her quartet composition Vibes, and her orchestration of Fred Rogers’ You Are Special, appears on the Sony Classical Records sound track for the film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. Monroe has coached and taught members of the Ying, Brentano, Shanghai, Marian Anderson, PubliQuartet, and Attacca string quartets. She holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now U.Arts).
Links to follow and support Diane:
www.dianemonroemusic.com;
www.facebook.com/diane.monroe;
https://www.wrti.org/post/violinist-diane-monroe-speaks-heart-about-healing-power-music;
https://www.innova.mu/albums/orchestra-2001/point; 5. https://www.discogs.com/Diane-Monroe-Tony-Miceli-Alone-Together/release/10052683
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/paul-salerni-music-samples/id431602019
Jan Garrett and JD Martin
Jan Garrett and JD Martin are multi-award-winning singer songwriters who live and create their music in the mountains of Colorado near Aspen. Together Jan & JD have written and recorded 9 CDs of original music, and have won top honors at the Positive Music Awards for many years running. Their songs are "rich and intelligent, as satisfying to the soul as they are to the ear, an exhilarating ride into the Heart of Harmony." Throughout the Pandemic lockdown....April 2020 to April 2021....Jan and JD posted 2 videos per week of one of their original songs. The 1st video is of them singing and playing live, and the 2nd companion video tells the backstory....how and why the song was written. See all 104 of these "Saturday Songs and Stories" (and more!) on their YouTube channel.
And please visit their website: www.Garrett-Martin.com
Lydia Bain
Lydia Bain is a multi-faceted artist with a passion for performing arts and recording. She has a wide array of musical lineages, some going back to Billie Holiday and Nathan Milstein. Bain has been at the forefront of the Healing Entertainment Industry and is currently on the “Time Machine World Tour”. It has been a vehicle in connecting with important musical figures that have pioneered the way for American Music and beyond. With a fascination for Artifacts, she has been involved in creating instruments made of carbon fiber while studying the History of Violin, and other ancient stringed instruments. Her passion as a violinist visionary, takes her into the study of frequency and the nature of the voice. In addition to being a vocalist, Ms. Bain continues her studies on a number of other instruments. She has incorporated unique, interdisciplinary methods through teaching. Her passion for musical movement led her to utilize the Hula-hoop in violin pedagogy at Duquesne University. During Bain’s undergrad work in performance, she studied with many gifted teachers at the Rudi Scheidt School of Music (University of Memphis). Her current project, Worldpop4life is in a wonderful stage of research and development with the goal of creating an immersive experience.
Links to follow and support Lydia:
Venmo: @Lydia-Bain-2
Paypal: PayPal.Me/world-pop
CashApp: @$lydstir12
worldpop4life@gmail.com
Facebook: @Lydiabainmusic
Instagram: @national_attraction
Brooke Campbell
Brooke Campbell is a songwriter who sings for folks who like to listen. Originally from North Carolina, Brooke performs original folk music with jazz and country inflections. The Escapist, her most recent EP, received radio play nationwide and a fellowship from the Speranza Foundation for her collaboration with classical composers.
“Haunting, magical, soothing.” – The Great Black North Blog
“…Brooke Campbell with those shivery, breathless voice and deep-toned acoustic guitar playing I fell in love after hearing her perform live. I don’t know why she isn’t better known – I haven’t been more impressed with a singer-songwriter since I first heard Jonatha Brooke.” – Terry Teachout, Drama Critic, The Wall Street Journal – “About Last Night” - Blog
Music and performance dates can be found at brookecampbellmusic.com
AJ Luca
AJ Luca is a pianist, singer-songwriter, actor and music educator based in Philadelphia. Her bachelor's and master's in jazz piano are from UArts, and her actor training is from Stella Adler Studio in NY. AJ approaches all of her work with the intensity of a jazz pianist and the heart of an actor. As much as she loves performing, she is equally passionate about sharing music with others through teaching and coaching, as a faculty member at UArts and music/production pastor at City Life Church. As a worship leader and songwriter at City Life and Resonate Worship and an accompanist at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, AJ's biggest passion is witnessing the power of congregational singing, especially through original music. One of AJ’s composing collaborations with Cantor Erin Frankel and poet/liturgist Alden Solovy, “So My Soul May Sing” was recently published in the High Holy Days Anthology (Volume I). AJ’s original music with City Life Worship can be found on all digital platforms. Upcoming releases include “No Match for You” with Resonate Worship, and AJ’s solo album THE TABLE, which will be available in Fall 2021.
AJ’s website: www.ajluca.com
City Life Worship on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kyUdq3aNeQ4Y9dYhkrwZH?si=CkGk1tTTR9GBhE3qw9ffEQ&dl_branch=1
A special thank you to our wonderful Tech Team!! Thank you for volunteering your time.
Learn more about them on our Team Page.