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The Lee Shaw Scholarship
Fund
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At our next concert (January 19, 2025):
Sonny & Perley Quartet The exciting duo of Sonny and Perley achieves a rare musical symbiosis. This husband and wife team has spent the last 30 years developing and perfecting their unique blend of Jazz, Great American Songbook, Bossa Nova, and International Cabaret into what has become their musical signature. The Magazine All About Jazz says “They brightly meld lyricism, passion, and rhythm in a way that is both rich and exotic”. They have appeared in concerts, festivals, cabaret shows and private events from New York to Florida and in Europe. In 2013 Sonny and Perley had the distinct honor of presenting a prelude concert for legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. Their four CD releases have generated international airplay. It is in their live performances, however, that they captivate audiences with their warmth, spontaneity, musical honesty and broad repertoire.
Charlie Tokarz
plays saxophone, flute, clarinet, and wind controller. He is an
active accompanist for dance at the Institute for Contemporary
Dance, Boston University, and Radcliffe and a pit musician for
musicals at the Berkshire Public Theatre, Berkshire School, and the
Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, DC. Charlie has performed at the
White House, 92nd Street
Y, and the Today Show, and has recorded music for HBO documentaries.
His recording with composer/actor Phillip Howlett culminated in a
multimedia performance at Symphony Space in New York. Currently, he
works as a free-lance musician and teaches at the Hotchkiss School
and the Steiner School.
Bassist Lou Pappas is an
Adjunct Artist in
Music at Vassar College. He earned his B.A. at The Metropolitan
State College, Denver, CO, and a M.M. at Colorado State University.
Lou retired in
the summer of 2006 as bassist with the United States Military
Academy Band, West Point, NY. As a member of the "Jazz Knights," he
has performed at jazz festivals across the United States, and with
performers Byron Stripling, Clair Fischer, David Liebman, Michael
Brecker, Steve Turre, James Williams and fellow bassist John
Clayton. Lou regularly conducts workshops and master classes,
including appearances at the 1996 IAJE convention, the International
Society of Bassists conventions in 2001, 2003 and 2005, the New York
State Music Teachers Convention, and many high school, college and
public school districts teachers’ workshops. He has performed with
the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Chappaqua Chamber Orchestra, Hudson
Valley Philharmonic, Westchester Philharmonic and is Principal Bass
with the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is a former member
of the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Springs
Symphony Orchestra and studies with James Carroll and David Potter
in Colorado, and Linda McKnight and Brian Torff in New York.
Percussionist Brian Melick
is active as a
performer, recording artist and educator. He has been performing
since the age of 13 and is featured on over 100 commercial
recordings. His debut recording “Percussive Voices” placed 23rd on
the world music charts. He has released two sound libraries:
“Perpetual Motion” and “The Art of Udu.” His music has been used
internationally for commercial use as well as featured on the
Discovery Network’s “Jack Hannah’s Animal Adventure.” He has two
educational bodies of work: “The How-To of Udu” and “Making
Percussion Instruments out of Found Objects” featuring
books/audio/video. Visit him online at www.uduboy.com
At our concert on March 9, 2025:
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