Name: Saxophone Serenades in the Secret Garden
Start: 2024-05-09T18:30:00-04:00
End: 2024-05-09T19:30:00-04:00
Location: The Secret Garden at the Rectory

Saxophone Serenades in the Secret Garden

ABOUT CLASSICAL MOVEMENTS:Moving the Music, Changing the WorldThe premier concert tour company for the world’s greatorchestrasandchoirs, Classical Movements creates meaningful cultural experiences through music in145 countries. An industry leader for over aquarter-century, Classical Movements organizes more than 60 tours every year, producing some 200 concerts every season. Producer of two international choral festivals—Ihlombe!in South Africa andSerenade!in Washington, D.C.—and thePrague Summer Nights: Young Artists Music Festival, in addition, Classical Movements’Eric Daniel Helms New Music Programhas 97 works from Grammy, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers. Winner of Americans for the Arts’ BCA10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts Award, since its founding in 1992, as a truly global company, Classical Movements remains committed to facilitatingcultural diplomacyacross the world—promoting peace through the medium of music.

Classical Movements

An evening of jazz with saxophonist Leigh Pilzer and her ensemble.

The Secret Garden at the Rectory

Concert is on rain or shine!<h2>Thursday, May 9th, 2024 | 5pm, 6:30pm</h2><h2>Saxophone Serenades in the Secret Garden</h2><h3>Leigh Pilzer, Baritone Saxophone | Paul Bratcher, Piano | Amy Shook, Bass | Greg Holloway, Drums</h3> Join us this May in the beautiful Secret Garden at The Rectory on Princess Street as baritone saxophone specialist Leigh Pilzer leads her all-star quartet in a program of swinging, tuneful originals along with the well-loved favorite “Sophisticated Lady” by Duke Ellington and the jazz standard “Bernie’s Tune.” Appearing with Leigh will be Paul Bratcher on piano, Amy Shook on bass, and Greg Holloway on drums. "Leigh Pilzer is an astral being of a baritone saxophonist that comes only once in a generation, a talent so rare that even the sharp eye of a Hubble has to be quick off the mark... In the curious case of Leigh Pilzer genius shines with an electrifying flash." - Raul da Gama, The Jazz World

<h1>Leigh Pilzer</h1><blockquote>“A force of nature on the baritone.” –Adam Narimatsu, CapitalBop</blockquote><blockquote>​</blockquote>Washington, DC native Leigh Pilzer is a baritone saxophone specialist, composer, arranger, and educator. Her performance resume includes appearances with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore’s Soulful Symphony, and more. She is also a bandleader in her own right, leading the Leigh Pilzer Startet, her all-star quartet/quintet; organ group Leigh Pilzer’s Low Standards; and her latest project, Leigh Pilzer’s Seven Pointed Star. She also co-leads PALS, a duo with bassist Amy Shook and JLQ, the Jen Krupa-Leigh Pilzer Quintet. Pilzer has presented her groups to enthusiastic audience response at top venues including Blues Alley, Keystone Korner, the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, and the Atlas Performing Arts Center, to name a few.​Pilzer is an in-demand composer and arranger whose music is performed by jazz ensembles and brass quintets throughout the country, as well as by the DC-area premier military jazz ensembles. She has contributed a number of works to the libraries of SJMO, DIVA, and BCJO, including “East Coast Andy,” the opening track on DIVA’s critically acclaimed 25th Anniversary Project. Other notable writing credits include orchestrations for the Broadway production of Maurice Hines Tappin Thru Life and horn section arrangements for recordings by Chuck Brown and Eva Cassidy. Pilzer is a Brava Jazz Publishing artist, and commissions include an arrangement for the University of Maryland Jazz Ensemble’s inaugural recording. Her most recent writing project is a library of compositions and arrangements for her septet, Leigh Pilzer’s Seven Pointed Star. The group’s debut recording, released in March, 2024, includes eight of Pilzer’s original compositions and one by long-time colleague, bassist Amy Shook, all exquisitely arranged by Pilzer for trumpet, alto, trombone, bari/bass clarinet, piano, bass, and drums. As an educator, Pilzer has served on the faculties of University of Maryland, George Mason University, and Towson University. Her teaching responsibilities have included Jazz Theory, Jazz Arranging, Jazz History, Fundamentals of Rock, Blues, and Jazz, and Chamber Jazz Ensemble. She has mentored for Strathmore’s Institute for Artistic Development Artist in Residence (AIR) program and for the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Committee for Gender Equality (CGE), and she strives to serve as a mentor and role model for all her students.​In addition to her classroom teaching, Pilzer is an engaging speaker who has presented at the Jazz Education Network conference, “Beyond the Notes,” George Mason University’s Musicology lecture series, and for numerous educational initiatives including the Washington Women in Jazz Festival, University of Maryland Jazz Studies Department, the Baltimore Jazz Education Project, NASA’s CGE, and Strathmore’s AIR program. In recognition for Pilzer’s work as a presenter, performer, educator, bandleader, and presenter, in 2023 the Capital Hill Jazz Foundation presented her with the D.C. Jazz Leaders in Service Award.​Pilzer holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition and Arranging from Berklee College of Music. Her desire to improve her instrumental skills led her to earn not one, but two master’s degrees from the University of Maryland: Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance. Her affinity for research and her enjoyment of learning led her to enroll at a doctoral program in music theory at the Catholic University of America but upon the sudden and tragic passing of Steven G. Strunk, her mentor and faculty advisor, for whom she named her debut CD Strunkin’, she transferred to George Mason University as a Presidential Scholar. In 2020 Pilzer earned the Dewberry School of Music Academic Achievement Award and graduated with a doctorate in Saxophone Performance with Jazz Emphasis. <blockquote>“…a fantastic horn player, she brings so much life to the instrument.”—Sunny Sumter, President and CEO, DC Jazz Festival</blockquote> <a href="https://www.leighpilzer.com/" title="https://www.leighpilzer.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.leighpilzer.com/</a>

<h3>Paul Bratcher, Piano</h3><h3> </h3>A native of Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Bratcher began playing piano at age 11. He began his study of jazz at Bishop McDevitt High School where he played in the Jazz Band under the direction of David Knott. After high school Paul continued his education at Messiah College where he pursued a Bachelors of Science in Music Education. While attending Messiah he had the pleasure of playing with and learning from such jazz masters as, Tim Warfield, Kirk Reese, Cyrus Chestnut and Bruce Barth.After Paul graduated from Messiah he continued his education at Michigan State University studying Jazz Studies under world-renowned bassist Rodney Whitaker. During The time at Michigan State Paul had a plethora of both teaching and playing opportunities.As a teacher Paul worked with the jazz program at MSU Community Music School in Detroit as well a clinician for a variety of high schools in the mid Michigan area. As a player Paul has shared the stage with Rodney Whitaker, Diego Rivera, Etienne Charles, Michael Dease, and Wes “ Warm Daddy” Anderson.After graduating with a M.M. in Jazz Studies Paul has been busy playing and teaching in the D.C. area. He has toured South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Canada, and Uruguay, Egypt, Indonesia and more. Currently Paul is Associate Chair of Piano at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. and Director of Jazz Studies at Georgetown University. <a href="http://www.paulbratcher.com/bio" title="http://www.paulbratcher.com/bio" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.paulbratcher.com/bio</a>

<h3>Amy Shook, bass</h3>Amy Shook is one of the most in-demand acoustic bassists in the mid-Atlantic, coveted for her huge sound and infectious, driving groove. In addition to being a premier performing and recording artist, and a multi-instrumentalist (acoustic bass, electric bass, violin, viola, and cello), she is an accomplished composer, and her personality truly comes through in her writing.Amy co-leads the all-women powerhouse trio the 3D Jazz Trio (3Divas), with drummer Sherrie Maricle and pianist Jackie Warren. Amy also co-leads the Shook/Russo 4tet, a band she started in 2004 with her husband, tenor saxophonist Pat Shook, and drummer Frank Russo. Along with their guitarist Jonathan Epley, the SR4tet’s focus has always been to compose and perform their own original music within the jazz idiom, honoring the masters by carrying on the tradition. The result is an incredible and unique sound, and a whirlwind of grooves, melodies, and diverse textures that are a true delight to hear. In 2017, Amy (with the SR5tet, which included trumpeter Tim Leahey) was a featured artist for the D.C. Jazz Festival’s “Bass-ically Yours” series at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, celebrating D.C.’s premier jazz bassists. The SR4tet currently has two CDs on Summit Records featuring Greg Gisbert.In addition to the 3D Jazz Trio, Amy's most recent musical collaboration is The Sholbertshire Swingtet, which features a quartet of the mid-Atlantic's favorite voices in jazz - Amy Shook on bass, Joe Holt on piano, Scott Silbert on tenor saxophone, and Steve Abshire on guitar. These four joined forces in 2020 to celebrate the music of the Great American Songbook, as well as write their own original music and arrangements of popular song, and in their unique, joyous way pay tribute to the swingin' ensemble sound of the Oscar Peterson Trio featuring Stan Getz. In the spring of 2021, Amy had the honor of playing bass as well as serve as executive co-producer with Scott Silbert on his eagerly awaited recording, Introducing the Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children, released in October of 2021.Additionally, Amy can be heard on three critically acclaimed albums with the Fred Hughes Trio (Love Letters, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, and Matrix). In addition to her jazz bass discography, Amy can be heard on various recordings playing auxiliary string parts, many that she both wrote and arranged, for various indie rock and blues artists such as Future Islands, Mary Prankster and the Kelly Bell Band. Amy holds two bachelor's degrees (performance and composition) and a master's degree (performance) from the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID.Amy has performed with Maurice Hines in Maurice Hines’ Tappin Thru Life, Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, Larry Willis, Greg Gisbert, George Mesterhazy, Wessell Anderson, Ali Ryerson, Walt Weiskopf, Tim Warfield, Wycliffe Gordon, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Hubert Laws, Kurt Elling, Steve Nelson and Lewis Nash, to name a few. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, the Blue Note NY, the Blue Note Beijing, Lincoln Center Damrosch Park, The International Forum (Tokyo, Japan), the Freespace Jazz Festival Hong Kong, The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, The Jazz Kitchen, the Birchmere, Arena Stage, the Cleveland Playhouse, The Tri-C Jazz Festival, the Delaware Theater Company, off-Broadway at New World Stages in NYC, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, the Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival, Washington Women in Jazz Festival, and the Cape May Jazz Festival, and performed with the Eli Yamin Quintet at the White House twice in 2009 by special invitation. <a href="https://www.amyshook.com/" title="https://www.amyshook.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.amyshook.com/</a>

<h3>Greg Holloway, Drums</h3> Greg Holloway has built a solid reputation as a versatile and flexible performing drummer/percussionist, educator, active member of the Percussive Arts Society, and published composer. Greg Holloway is also a Retired US Air Force Field Band Percussionist, former principal timpanist for Anchorage Symphony, previous American University Applied Drumset Adjunct and Retired Director of Percussion at Flint Hill School. Greg continues to be active performing and percussion education in the Washington metropolitan tristate area. His nuanced sensitive approach without compromising energy coupled with reliable integrity led to touring with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, performances Mary Wilson, Freda Payne, Aretha Franklin, Linda Clifford, Hank Jones, Jimmy Heath, Buck Hill, Carl Fontana, Eddie Gomez, Gregory Hines, Sheri Lewis, magicians, regional artists and many more. Greg Holloway earned Bachelor’s in Music Education with an emphasis on performance from Howard University, Masters of Education Special Emphasis Percussion Methods and Master of Science in Psychology from University of LaVerne (California). <a href="https://greghollowaydrummusic.com/" title="https://greghollowaydrummusic.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://greghollowaydrummusic.com/</a>

The concert is presented at 5pm and 6:30pm and takes place rain or shine. In case of severe weather or thunderstorms this event will either be moved indoors, or be rescheduled .Tickets are non-refundable.Please note: Seating will be assigned by the presenters.This is one of many programs being offered in the 2023-2024 season. Visit our <a href="https://www.classicalmovements.com/secretgardenconcerts/" title="https://www.classicalmovements.com/secretgardenconcerts/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">website for information on other concerts, including opera, early music, jazz and show tunes.</a>About the RectoryBuilt in 1785 and the home of Classical Movements’ offices since 2014, the building formerly served as the rectory of the nearby historic Christ Church, once the church of George Washington. Since then, it has been owned by several distinguished Virginians and has been a commercial space since the 1960’s.Located in the heart of beautiful Old Town Alexandria at 711 Princess Street, the Rectory is minutes away from the shops and restaurants of bustling King Street and is easily accessible by bus and metro.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/theRectoryonPrincess/" title="https://www.facebook.com/theRectoryonPrincess/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Like and follow the Rectory on Facebook</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClassicalMovements/" title="https://www.facebook.com/ClassicalMovements/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Like and follow Classical Movements on Facebook</a>

Classical Movements has a small fund to offer limited discounted tickets to veterans, students, underprivileged families, and disabled concert-goers, with the generous support of John H. Hart and Musical Movements for Change. Please contact us for more information.For ticket requests and wheelchair accessibility; please contact Laura@ClassicalMovements.com or call (703) 683-6040, ext. 009 for special accommodations.Tickets and seating assignments will be communicated by email the day prior the concert. All seats have a clear view of the stage.Additional important instructions, tickets and concert programs will be provided by email only.Classical Movements will provide more information about alternative forms of transportation to access The Rectory on Princess Street, 711 Princess St by email before the event. You can also go to https://www.alexandriava.gov/GOAlex for more information about available options. We encourage all patrons to park off-street through the provision of nearby garages or lots. Many parking garages and lots are located conveniently in the area. There is a parking garage at N. Alfred St Garage, 117 N. Alfred St, $5/hr ($25 daily max, $10 evening max) and a surface parking lot at Cameron/St Asaph Lot, 517 Cameron St, $2.50/hour ($10 daily max, $5 evening/weekend max). Visitors are encouraged to bike, walk or take the Metrorail Yellow or Blue lines to the King Street Station and take the free King Street Trolley, or DASH or Metro buses. For DASH schedule information visit, www.dashbus.com. For Metrobus schedule information, visit www.wmata.com. Bicyclists may visit www.alexandriava.gov/GOAlex for the City’s Bikeways Map, which features the City's best on-street and off-road bikeways, as well as locations of grouped bicycle parking.We discourage you from using on-street parking. To ensure legal parking, read all posted signs before parking.

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Saxophone Serenades in the Secret Garden

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