Duke Ellington famously wrote over a thousand tunes, many of which are forever embedded in our memories as well-known jazz standards. Less often performed and talked about are Ellington’s three Sacred Concerts which he wrote in the late 60s to early 70s and performed with his orchestra, featured soloists, singers and a choir.
Pianist Cyrus von Hochstetter and saxophonist Austin Becker present a program with music from the sacred concerts as well as Arnold Schönberg's piano pieces Op. 19 ‘Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke’, in new arrangements for saxophone and piano duo. In addition, the program will feature original compositions, jazz standards and more.
Please join us to discover unfamiliar music and / or rediscover familiar pieces in a new light!
Pianist, composer and improviser Cyrus von Hochstetter consistently bridges and straddles the gaps between various forms of music such as jazz, classical music and songwriting. His performances - whether solo or with his group “the Hat Music” - include original compositions, improvisations and creative reinventions of standard repertoire. Cyrus von Hochstetter has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and Felicja Blumental Center in Tel Aviv, received awards from Young Lions Jazz Festival and Downbeat Magazine, licensed his music to MTV and MoMA, produced and shot a prize-winning short film and performed with Clint Black on the TV show Celebrity Apprentice.
Austin Becker is a musician, composer, and educator based in New York, NY. He has a diverse and extensive performing background which has taken him all over the world performing at such venues as Jazz at Lincoln Center (NY, New York), Bimhuis (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Kulturclub Lebewohlfabrik (Zürich, Switzerland) and Neringa (Vilnius, Lithuania). Austin regularly teaches and presents clinics to NYC metro area elementary, middle, and high school children to educate students on the performance styles, historical significance, and cultural relevance of jazz. He received his undergraduate (B.M.) and graduate (M.M.) degrees from Manhattan School of Music in Jazz Performance with a Ed.M. in Music Education from Columbia University, Teachers College.