FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sarah Snyder
ssnyder3@umd.edu
(301) 405-8151
January 23, 2012 – College Park, MD – Legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his quartet will perform a selection of their classic jazz hits in An Evening with Branford Marsalis on February 15 at 8pm in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall. This special one-night-only evening of music is in conjunction with the opening of the David C. Driskell Center’s new exhibit, Convergence: Jazz, Films, and the Visual Arts. The exhibit reveals the interplay between jazz and the visual arts.
About An Evening with Branford Marsalis
The Branford Marsalis Quartet will play pieces from their album Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, released in August 2012, as well as selections from their past albums. Comprised of Marsalis (saxophone), Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass) and Justin Faulkner (drums), the quartet is known for their musical cohesion, adventure and artistry. The band respects the emotional intent of each song and executes that intent with musicianship focused solely on serving the purpose of the tune.
About Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is one of the most revered instrumentalists of his time. The three-time Grammy Award® winner has continued to exercise and expand his skills as an instrumentalist, a composer, and the head of Marsalis Music, the label he founded in 2002 that has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists. Marsalis made his Broadway debut as the composer of original music for the Tony Award® winning Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play Fences and received a Tony Award® nomination in the category of “Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre” and a 2010 Drama Desk Award® for “Outstanding Music in a Play” for his participation.
Leader of one of the finest jazz quartets today, and a frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Marsalis has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with such acclaimed orchestras as the Chicago, Detroit, Düsseldorf and North Carolina Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic, with a growing repertoire that includes compositions by Copland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem and Vaughn Williams.
He most recently appeared at the Center in the 2005–2006 season.
About the David C. Driskell Center’s Convergence: Jazz, Films, and the Visual Arts
Convergence: Jazz, Films, and the Visual Arts takes a glimpse at the relationship between jazz and the visual arts. The exhibition features 65 works by innovative artists and filmmakers, mostly African Americans, whose works depict and/or are influenced by Jazz music and culture. This traveling exhibition offers intimate expressions of sound and imagery that explore the depths of African American visual arts and demonstrate the complexity of American visual culture. Convergence will open with a reception at the David C. Driskell Center on Thursday, February 14 at 5:00p.m., and will display through May 31, 2013. The Driskell Center is located at 1214 Cole Student Activities Building, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Tickets
More information can be found on our web site. Tickets for this performance are $35/$10 (Regular/Youth), and can be purchased online or by calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787).
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Funded in part by a generous gift from Barbara and Charles Reiher. Additional sponsoring partnership with the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. More information on Clarice Smith Center donor support can be found here.