December 11th HOLIDAY SZALON!

1. Singer/songwriters Robert and Katherine Oakes will perform gentle acoustic original and holiday songs, from their home studio in northeastern CT

2. Pianist/composer Connor Chee, will perform original solo pieces inspired by traditional Navajo music and culture, from his home studio in Phoenix, AZ

3. E. Shawn “Q” Qaissaunee (guitar) and Jason Fraticelli (bass) will perform fun and unique arrangements of festive holiday songs, from the Salon in Philadelphia

4. Cellist Jeffrey Solow and pianist Elise Auerbach will perform Three French Lullabies, Berceuse, op. 16 by Gabriel Faure, Berceuse, op. 8 by Gabriel Pierne and Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure, by Maurice Ravel, from the Salon

5. Joe Block will perform solo piano music from the Great American Songbook and American popular music, from the Salon

6. Jazz vocalist Maci Miller will be performing jazz and holiday tunes with pianist Aaron Graves, from the Salon

7. Epiphany Singers performs “Senex Puerum Portabat” by Nico Muhly, conducted by Danielle Molan with Mark Loria, pianist, from the Salon

8. Baritone Charles McNeil, Jr. will perform “Angels we have heard on high”, “A Christmas song” and “O holy night” with pianist Stephen Acosta, from the Salon

9. Pianist Paul Fejko, will have improvisational fun with Holiday Spirits, from the Salon!

10. John Conahan (piano/vocals) will perform engaging and ludicrous holiday surprises!

11. Surendra with Sur Sudha will perform Jugalbandi for tabla (Surendra Shrestha), flute (Raman Maharjan) and guitar (Bikash Sunar), from their home studio in Kathmandu, Nepal

Robert and Katherine Oakes

Robert and Katherine Oakes create an ethereal sound not often heard in today’s popular music. The duo evokes a soulful sense of wonder, expressing themes of love, creativity, mystery, and an appreciation of natural beauty. Said Kylee Colvin of The Levity Ball, “Oakes & Smith…bring a sense of calm an ease to the air...with songs so full of wisdom and true emotions.” Anthony Avina of On Request magazine called it “emotional, heartfelt music that touches the soul.” And Annie Rew Shaw of Echoes and Dust said, “Katherine’s vocals are so pure and clear, they almost crystallize in your head. Her voice...holds deep emotion and wisdom.” For more, visit oakesandsmith.net

We have several studio recordings available for download on Bandcamp, here: https://oakesandsmith.bandcamp.com/music 

Videos:

Connor Chee

Navajo pianist and composer Connor Chee is known for combining his classical piano training with his Native American heritage. Chee made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 12 after winning a gold medal in the World Piano Competition. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, Chee’s solo piano music is inspired by traditional Navajo chants and songs. Chee has released 4 studio albums of original pieces and piano transcriptions of Navajo music. “The Navajo Piano” won Best Instrumental Recording at the 16th Annual Native American Music Awards, and his piece “Beginnings” won Best New Age Song. Chee’s 2020 release, Scenes from Dinétah, features piano pieces written about elements of Navajo life and culture. It was accompanied by the release of several music videos filmed on the reservation, directed by Navajo filmmaker Michael Etcitty Jr. Chee's most recent release, The Navajo Piano (Revisited), features new recordings of his original 15 compositions from 2014, as well as recordings of the traditional songs they were based on. Also included are 3 new transcriptions for harp featuring Angelica Hairston and Johanna Wienholts.

www.ConnorChee.com

TikTok: @ConnorChee
Instagram: @ConnorChee

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connorcheemusic

CashApp: $connorchee 
Venmo: @Connor-Chee
PayPal: https://paypal.com/paypalme/connorchee

Video:

E. Shawn “Q” Qaissaunee and Jason Fraticelli

E. Shawn "Q" Qaissaunee (kay-saw'-nee) is a Wilmington, Delaware based multi-instrumentalist performer, composer and teacher. He is a Berklee College of Music Alumnus (Jazz Composition/Music Education) and has been in demand for his musical talents for more than thirty years. Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, he has deep musical and spiritual connections to his heritage and brings that to his unique and engaging compositions and performances. He has received many accolades and awards, most recently being awarded a Composer Residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in January of 2023.  

Jason Fraticelli is a Philadelphia native upright bassist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and band leader who has been immersed in the Philadelphia and New York jazz and original music scenes for over 20 years. He co-leads the acclaimed 10-piece electro-jazz outfit the Fresh Cut Orchestra, and through that group Jason has received a Pew grant to record one of his most extensive works entitled the Mothers’ Suite which was released on Ropeadope records in 2014. Jason has received grants and commissions from the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composers Forum, the Kimmel Center of Philadelphia, the Painted Bride Arts Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in DC, and recently a commission from Black Mountain College Museum in Asheville, NC. 

https://esqmusic.com/listen-buy

Venmo: @esqmusic

https://jasonfraticelli.com/discography/

Videos:

Cellist Jeffrey Solow and pianist Elise Auerbach

Cellist Jeffrey Solow’s impassioned and compelling playing has enthralled audiences throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Asia in performances as recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he earned a degree in Philosophy magna cum laude from UCLA while studying with and then assisting the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at USC. Mr. Solow's concerto appearances include performances of more than forty different works with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic (also at the Hollywood Bowl), Japan Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Prime Symphony Orchestra (Korea), Milwaukee Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, VNOB (Hanoi), and the American Symphony (with whom he also recorded), and he has been guest artist at many national and international chamber music festivals. He has recorded for numerous record labels and received two Grammy Award nominations. Last summer he performed his eleventh cycle of Bach’s suites at NYC’s floating venue, Bargemusic. The Strad, Strings, and American String Teacher magazines have published his articles and reviews. Recognized as an authority on healthy and efficient cello playing, Jeffrey is a past-president of the American String Teachers Association and for the past 33 years has been professor of cello at Temple University in Philadelphia, where in 2020 he received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Elise Auerbach’s wide-ranging interests and expertise span the spectrum of the collaborative pianist. Ms. Auerbach has appeared with singers and instrumentalists in such venues as Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Other performance highlights include orchestral appearances with the Delaware and Temple University Symphonies, live broadcasts on Cincinnati Public Radio WGUC, premieres of new works for keyboard, and numerous recitals throughout the region. She has participated in and performed at festivals in Japan, Italy, Canada, and the United States, and toured twice in Germany as part of the Ribbeck/Auerbach violin and piano duo. Ms. Auerbach frequently serves as music director and pianist for productions by local opera companies. She has been a coach and teacher in the Vocal Arts department at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance for more than 20 years, and joined the piano staff at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia in 2015. A devoted chamber musician, she is a founding member of Philalea, a Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble. Ms.

Auerbach holds degrees from Temple University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her teachers have included Leota Palmer, Harvey Wedeen and Susan Starr, and she studies the Taubman Approach with Robert Durso.

Three French Lullabies:

(Trois berceuses françaises)

Berceuse, op. 16 by Gabriel Faure' (1878-9) Transcribed by the composer

Berceuse, op. 8 by Gabriel Pierne' (1880) Transcribed by Jeffrey Solow

Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure', by Maurice Ravel (1922) Transcribed by Lucien Garban

Joe Block

A proud Philadelphia native, Joe Block is a pianist, composer, and bandleader now based in NYC. A recent graduate of both the Juilliard School and Columbia University, Joe has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Leslie Odom Jr., Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Victor Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and many more artists. He maintains a busy performance schedule as a bandleader as well as a highly versatile and in-demand sideman for many different projects and musicians in New York and Philadelphia. As a composer, he has been hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of "jazz's most promising young composers", and has written or arranged music for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis Septet, saxophonist Grace Kelly, baritone Kenneth Overton, and his own group, the Joe Block Quintet. He appears on the 2020 Grammy-nominated album "The Intangible Between" by Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band.

Website: joeblockmusic.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsDXpJAaMR9pSmLFS7rob5w

Instagram: @joeblockchords

Videos:

Maci Miller and Aaron Graves

Maci Miller is a versatile jazz singer who has been previously heard on 4 CDs including a big band set of her originals. Her 2019 release, Round Midnight, showcases her voice and unique style in a set of intimate duets with guitarist David O’Rourke. Ms. Miller’s sweet-toned voice, impeccable enunciation, wide range, and the obvious joy that she feels while singing are highlighted on this album and in her live performances. She puts plenty of passionate feeling into the ballads, swings at every tempo, scats and makes the standards sound fresh and new. Maci Miller has had success in overlapping fields. She gained early experience singing pop and soul music and performing in cabaret shows. After she moved to Philadelphia, she fell in love with jazz, explored its history, and developed her own personal sound. Completely self-taught, she learned by performing on-stage. At the same time, she has had careers as an actor, a model, and a spokesperson while developing as a singer. She worked with such artists as trumpeter Steve Jankowski, the legendary saxophonist Larry McKenna, Bassist Mike Boone, pianist/producer/arranger Aaron Graves, trumpeter John Swana, and the late pianist George Mesterhazy. Maci Miller is taking her place as one of the finest jazz singers on the scene today.

Aaron Graves was raised in Reidsville, North Carolina. He learned to play various instruments including piano, bass, organ, and drums, in the church where his father, a great musician with a musical family, was the senior pastor. Aaron has been blessed to perform and/or record with greats that include Stanley Turrentine, Oscar Brown, Jr., Dakota Staton, Cassandra Wilson, Antonio Hart, Kenny Burrell, Frank Foster, Grover Washington, Jr., Vanessa Rubin, Earl May, The Blackbyrds, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis, Jann Parker, Donald Byrd, James Moody, Kevin Mahogany, Ruth Naomi Floyd, Al Jarreau, Denise King, Mr. Jon Hendricks, Barbara Montgomery, Jimmy Scott and many others. Some of Aaron’s television credits are: The award-winning documentary “Eyes on the Prize with Sweet Honey and the Rock”, The Lou Rawls Show, Good Morning Australia
, Japan Airlines, Conjurers: Women in Jazz with Cassandra Wilson, Theme for the Carol Randolph Show.  He performed on the soundtrack for the movie “Ashes and Embers” by independent filmmaker Haile Gerima; was the conductor on Broadway for “Truly Blessed” about the life of Mahalia Jackson, written and performed by Queen Esther Marrow; was the conductor for “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” with Criss Calloway in Edinburgh, Scotland; and was the conductor for “Essentially Ellington” at The Prince Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Website: www.macimusic.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/macimusic

IG:  www.instagram.com/macimillerjazz

Videos:

Epiphany Singers

Epiphany Singers, founded by director Danielle Molan in 2017, is an auditioned choral ensemble of young adults. Its mission is to provide college students and young working professionals with a well-rounded choral experience of the highest caliber. While focusing on building community, musical growth and artistry, ES allows young artists to experience a wide variety of repertoire while providing Philadelphia with beautiful performances. Since 2017, ES has performed choral works including two Bach Cantatas, Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, Requiem by Herbert Howells, and other sacred repertoire by composers such as Johannes Brahms, Francis Poulenc, Paul Mealor, Jonathan Dove, James MacMillan, Eric Whitacre and more. This spring they will be featured as the chorus in a performance of Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. Rehearsals and performances at the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul keep them busy, although they love performing at other venues as well. ES is thrilled to return to Andrea's Salon for the third time, and looks forward to being amongst the amazing talent Philadelphia has to offer!

Text for "Senex Puerum Portabat":

An old man carried the child,
yet the child ruled the old man.

Him whom the virgin had borne
- after which she remained forever a virgin –
she herself worshipped.

Today Christ is born:

Today the Savior appeared:

Today on Earth the Angels sing,

Archangels rejoice:

Today the righteous rejoice, saying:

Glory to God in the highest.

Alleluia.

Links: 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EpiphanySingers

Donations - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_donations&business=epiphanysingersphila@gmail.com&item_name=Epiphany%20Singers&currency_code=USD

We are looking for future performance opportunities! - https://epiphanysingers.wixsite.com/epiphanysingers/hire-us

Videos:

Charles McNeil, Jr.

Specializing in classical voice, Charles McNeil, Jr. is a 24-year-old Philadelphia born musician. With vocal qualities compared to Paul Robeson and Whitley Philips, McNeil uses his voice to reach a range of audiences, from summer camps to churches and centers up and down the east coast. Charles began studying piano and voice at a young age. He started playing the violin in 6th grade, and in 2010, Charles enrolled in Play On Philly. POP’s transformative music education program kickstarted his instrumental life by challenging him daily in the fundamentals of musicianship in a group setting. Charles studied both violin and voice at Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP), where he discovered a love for opera, and went on to study at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. Charles has performed with the Black Pearl Orchestra at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, with Showstoppers!, as part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus. He has also traveled through multiple cities in Italy with the All-City Orchestra as a violinist, while also performing classical duet in the Duomo di Lucca, in Lucca, Italy. Charles currently sings for St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Yeadon, PA, and Grace Temple Baptist Church in Lawnside, NJ.

Video:

Paul Fejko

Composer/Conductor/Keyboardist Paul Fejko lives locally at his performance space in Chester, PA known as The André Café Acoustique where monthly concerts of many varying sorts have now resumed with LIVE audiences.  He is music director of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church in Philadelphia, a musician with the Muhlenberg College Theatre and Dance departments, and founder of the Chester Performing Arts Project. His specialty is provoking and challenging audiences with an unpredictable, eclectic and capricious approach to both classical repertoire, composition and improvisation. 

Information can be found at fejko.com and andre-cafe.com where also donation (enormously appreciated!!) links can be found. He just uploaded all of his legacy CD recordings (1989 - 2004) to paulfejko.bandcamp.com as downloadable tracks and albums. More of his work can be found at soundcloud.com/paulfejko, youtube.com/paulfejko and youtube.com/andrecafeacoustique. 

Click Here to Donate via PayPal - NO need to be a member! Or..... Venmo: @paul-fejko

To go with the season, a YouTube clip of piano solo Advent Carols:

Something more 'New Age', A SynthPad Voyage:

John Conahan

John Conahan is a composer, conductor, performer, and educator. John spent this November at the piano for Philadelphia’s The Crossing choir and will be at the piano in the Spring for Philadelphia's Lyric Fest, he has new choral commissions premiering for Jeff Brillhart and Singing City, as well as Tom lloyd and Buck County Choral Society, and his new work for Orchestra, Choir, and soloists focusing on systemic racism premieres in January. He just performed with his friends from Philly's Elegance Quartet at the Fleisher Art Memorial... and as it is December, he is infamous for his annual #CarolRagnarok battle with composer Kurt Knecht (see social media for the hilarity). His compositions have been premiered at the Kennedy Honors Ceremony, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Kimmel Center, where he is also a guest conductor annually.

Links:

www.johnconahan.com

www.youtube.com/johnconahanmusic 

www.facebook.com/johnconahan

www.instagram.com/johnconahan_

www.soundcloud.com/john-conahan 

www.twitter.com/johnconahan 

Videos:

Surendra with Sur Suda (Surendra Shrestha), flute (Raman Maharjan) and guitar (Bikash Sunar)

Sur Sudha is one of the first classical bands from Nepal that has gained wide recognition internationally. Sur Sudha has performed more than 2,000 concerts, on the steps of ancient Hindu temples to the concert stages of many countries of Europe, India, Japan, S. Korea, Africa and the USA, and has been the subject of TV documentaries in many countries. They have released fourteen CD's. Most of them are available worldwide through Schtung Records in collaboration with Universal Music (formerly MCA) supported by BMG Records and Warner/Chappell. Sur Sudha's music is widely recognized by music companies. Sur-Sudha is coming out with a new album dedicated to Mt. Everest print and electronic media throughout the world. Sur Sudha held second position in KALX WORLD MUSIC CHART in May, 1998 as the most frequently played international music and has remained in the top ten in the KALX World Music Chart for months as a popular world music band. Sur-Sudha was also awarded in the Hollywood Spiritual Film Festival in 2004.  Sur-Sudha's music represents all the communities of Nepal from the highest peaks of the Himalayan range to the lowest land of Terai plus modern fusion compositions for acoustic guitar, tabla, sitar and flute.

facebook.com/surendrawithssursudha 

 instagram: @sur_sudha