A Yamaha Concert Grand Piano will be the premier instrument for a cavalcade of Jazz, Rag-time, Classical and Blues performers throughout the twelve days of the Festival. Performances on this exquisite marvel of Yamaha craftsmanship and grand piano evolution will range from solo recitals to jazz and blues ensembles in shows and concerts.

In recognition of the dedication to the arts of the many fine instrumentalists and vocalists in our region performing in other musical idioms, the Festival will be presenting a series of recitals and showcases featuring a selection of excellent teachers and students from throughout Simcoe County.

Printer Ready Programme

GO TO PIANO CONCERTS

GO TO "OUT TO LUNCH" CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES

"THE GIANTS OF JAZZ" ARTICLE

THURSDAY, JUNE 18 8:00 P.M. A "GIANTS OF JAZZ" CONCERT Featuring MORGAN CHILDS - JOHN MEYER PRESENTS ...... and other Coltrane misteries _____________ TBA TBA TBA _____________ JAKE KOFFMAN Jake Koffman, a Canadian saxophone player, plays virtually any reed instrument from clarinet to baritone sax. Jake was born into a famous musical family in Toronto. One of his grandfathers, Moe Koffman - famous for his jazz hit "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" -, was one of the first Canadian jazz musicians to start playing bebop, while his other grandfather, Victor Feldbrill, was conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, Jake released a debut album, "The Jake Koffman Quartet", and since then he has been the jazz hope of Canada. Jake can often be seen in the band of the famous Canadian jazz-pop singer, Nikki Yanofsky. _____________________________________

FRIDAY, JUNE 19 8:00 P.M. A "GIANTS OF JAZZ" CONCERT PRESENTS "THE MISSING LINK" HOW DID THE GREAT GENIUS OF THE PIANIST-COMPOSERS OF THE 19TH CENTURY INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT AND EMERGENT GENIUS OF THE JAZZ PIANIST-COMPOSERS OF THE LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES? Chopin called him “THE KING OF PIANISTS” Louis Moreau Gottschalk May 8, 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. – December 18, 1869 in Rio De Janeiro, Empire of Brazil The Pioneering Pianist/Composer of the Americas, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano pieces. Although he is regarded as an American composer and musician, he spent most of his working career outside of the United States in Europe and South and Central America. Dubbed "the Chopin of the Creoles", he was, above all, the first to capture the syncopated music of South Louisiana and the Caribbean in enduring works that anticipate ragtime and jazz by half a century. _____________________________________ MATT HERSKOWITZ Pianist, composer, songwriter and arranger, Matt Herskowitz has distinguished himself in several musical genres. His 2007 solo piano release, Matt Herskowitz Plays Gershwin (Disques Tout Crin), featuring Gershwin's great solo arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue and Matt's own original solo arrangements of the Concerto in F and Cuban Overture, was in nomination in 2017 for Quebec's prestigious Prix Opus. It also made Montreal's prominent quotidian La Presse's list of top 10 jazz albums of the year. His 2006 solo release, Gabriel's Message, which features his original arrangements and compositions based on popular Christmas themes, was nominated for Québec's prestigious Félix award in 2007. A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Herskowitz is originally from Albany, New York, and has made Montreal his adopted home for more than 20 years. Among Matt's most recent recordings is "Piano Cameleons", a collaboration with pianist, John Roney, in which they explore the jazz possibilites inherent in popular classical music compositions.hi _____________________________________

SATURDAY, JUNE 20 8:00 P.M. A "GIANTS OF JAZZ" CONCERT "UNFORGETTABLE" PRESENTED BY Featuring PAT COLLINS REG SCHWAGER MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF CANADA Nathaniel Adams Coles March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A. – February 15, 1965 in Santa Monica, California, U.S.A. B"Before Nat King Cole established himself as an iconic vocalist, he was a superlative jazz pianist, much admired by his peers, who recorded and performed with Lester Young, Les Paul, Charlie Parker, and other notable colleagues, in addition to his own trio work. On this edition of Night Lights, we explore the artistry and love in Cole‘s relationship with jazz." Night Lights Classic Jazz - David Brent Johnson Whereas Nat King Cole was heavily influenced by jazz pianist Earl Hines, he was also influenced by Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. In return, Cole went on to act as a large and important influence on Oscar Peterson, Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and many others of the era. Cole is credited with originating the jazz trio format of piano, bass and guitar, a combination much admired by Oscar Peterson. Join The Paul Hoffert Trio in discovering the extraordinarily gifted jazz pianist of the 1930's and 1940's, Nat King Cole. _____________________________________ PAUL HOFFERT MULTI-AWARD RECIPIENT MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF CANADA Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.-born, Paul "Poli" Hoffert, is best known for his work with the rock band "Lighthouse", which he co-founded with Canadian drummer, Skip Prokop. His musical origins, however, were rooted in classical music and subsequently jazz, and he released his first recording - "The Jazz Routes of Paul Hoffert" - with The Paul Hoffert Quartet when he was only 16 years old. He went on to perform with jazz greats such as Moe Koffman, Freddie Hubbard, Guido Basso, Rob McConnell and Ed Bickert, at venues such as the Newport, Monterey, and Boston Globe jazz festivals, as well as Carnegie Hall. One of Hoffert's recent jazz recording, "How High The Bird", is an iconclastic shuffling of the "standards" and "be-bop" deck with music partner-drummer, Jim Gelcer. "Congrats on a great record!" - Jaymz B, Jazz FM 91.1 In keeping with Hoffert's eclectic musical pursuits is his latest recording project with drummer Jim Gelcer, "Jim And Paul Play Glenn And Ludwig" (2018), a jazzy twist on some Beethoven themes favoured by Glenn Gould.. A mulit-instrumentalist who, as a child, was recognized for being a prodigy, "Poli" counts as his major influences in jazz piano, Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. An intellectual and creative peripatetic, Hoffert's vast and heralded contributions to the Arts and Technology are best summed up by the media and his contemporaries ...... "Paul Hoffert defies neat definitions. The founder and keyboard player for the 1970s rock band Lighthouse is now the architect of Canada’s most innovative information highway experiments. A university professor, businessman, composer and conductor, Hoffert is, in the words of some, the quintessential 'renaissance man'. He is also, possibly, the ideal visionary for the electronic age." - Toronto Star "Mr. Hoffert is one of the New Mandarins - along with Microsoft’s Bill Gates … His music wakes up Canadians every morning, but this member of the Canadian Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has been waking up the technology sector as well ... " - Financial Post "Musician, scientist, engineer, arts maven, and entrepreneur Paul Hoffert takes us on an accessible, lively, wide-ranging, thought-provoking tour of the frontiers of technology and culture (in his book, The Bagel Effect) ... an optimistic and deeply humanistic view of the world and of modern technology's role in it... Required reading for an introduction to the profound changes being enabled by modern media." - Dr. Ronald Baecker, Director, Knowledge Media Design Institute, University of Toronto _____________________________________

THE "OUT TO LUNCH" CONCERT SERIES JUNE 12 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Featuring BRUCE RUMBLE WILL DAVIS HAS SPENT A HALF A LIFETIME IN SIMCOE COUNTY, ONTARIO, IN THE PURSUIT OF THE ART OF JAZZ. HE IS A SOUGHT-AFTER ACCOMPANIST FOT MANY VOCALISTS, IN ADDITION TO HIS ASSOCIATION WITH MANY MUSIC ENSEMBLES. WILL IS A CONSTANT FIXTURE ON THE CLUB AND FESTIVAL SCENE, AND IN MANY EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE REGION. HE IS ACCOMPANIED BY EVERBODY'S FAVOURITE BASSIST NORTH OF TORONTO, BRUCE RUMBLE. _______________________________ JUNE 15 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. TORONTO-BASED PIANIST AND COMPOSER TANIA GILL HAS SPENT OVER TWENTY YEARS CULTIVATING A MUSICAL APPROACH THAT'S SIMULTANEOUSLY SINGULAR AND POLYMORPHOUS. GILL'S PRIMARY FOCUS IS JAZZ AND IMPROVISED MUSIC, WHERE SHE'S DEVELOPED A DISTINCTIVE IMPROVISATIONAL LANGUAGE. GILL HOLDS AN MMUS IN JAZZ PERFORMANCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, AND STUDIED CLASSICAL PIANO PERFORMANCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA BEFORE SHIFTING INTO MCGILL'S JAZZ PROGRAMME WHERE SHE COMPLETED HER BACHELOR OF MUSIC. "HER FINELY TEXTURED IMPROVISATIONS ARE ALWAYS INTENT BUT CASUAL AS IF SHE WERE MERELY PICKING OUT NOTES AND PHRASES THAT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE, WAITING TO BE MADE AUDIBLE. HER COMPLEXITIES FEEL NATURAL AND ALMOST SELF-EVIDENT." - ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN - THE GLOBE AND MAIL .... "PIANIST TANIA GILL'S SPARKLING, VERY FREE SOLO IMPRESSES," - THE WIRE .... HER "SPIKY, SPARSE PIANO" IS "MOST SUCCESSFUL IN CHANNELLING THE ECCENTRIC SPIRIT OF THE MASTERFUL [THELONIOUS] MONK." - TORONTO STAR _______________________________ JUNE 16 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. "A YOUNG LION PIANO MAN YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH, IT DOESN'T TAKE ANY THOUGHT TO DO A TRIBUTE TO HERBIE HANCOCK SET, BUT IT DOES TAKE BEING AN OLD SOUL TO IT LIKE HE WAS THERE WHEN THINGS OLDER THAN HIM WERE CREATED. A WELL DESERVED AWARD WINNER IN MANY JAZZ AND MUSIC CIRCLES." CHRIS SPECTOR - THE MIDWEST RECORD (Illinois, USA) _______________________________ JUNE 17 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. MULTI-AWARD RECIPIENT ADREAN FARRUGIA BEGAN PLAYING PIANO AT THE AGE OF 12. BY AGE 16 HE RECOGNIZED THAT HE WOULD DEDICATE HIS LIFE TO MUSIC. SINCE THEN HE HAS BECOME RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF CANADA'S MOST SOUGHT-AFTER PIANISTS AND COMPOSERS, HAVING SHARED THE MUSIC HE LOVES GLOBALLY WITH AUDIENCES ACROSS CANADA, AS WELL AS IN THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM, PARIS, JAPAN, TAIWAN, ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA, POLAND, AND THE NETHERLANDS .... WITH ARTISTS INCLUDING JAZZ LEGENDS CURTIS FULLER, ERNIE WATTS, SHEILA JORDAN, BRAD GOODE, ADAM NUSSBAUM, BOBBY WATSON, CYRILLE AIMEE, AND JOEL FRAHM. ADREAN HAS WORKED WITH PROMINENT CANADIAN ARTISTS SUCH AS JANE SIBERRY, MOLLY JOHNSON, JANE BUNNETT, MATT DUSK, PAT LABARBERA, LORNE LOFSKY, ROBERTO OCCHIPINTI, ERNESTO CERVINI, THE WORST POP BAND EVER AND MANY OTHERS. ADREAN HAS PLAYED ON MORE THAN 40 ALBUMS TO DATE GARNERING 2 JUNO AWARDS, 8 JUNO AWARD NOMINATIONS, A MARK AWARD FOR 'BEST PRODUCTION MUSIC ARTIST' FROM THE PRODUCTION MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, 'PIANIST OF THE YEAR' AT THE HAMILTON ARTS AWARDS, AND A NOMINATION FOR THE ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL'S LOUIS APPLEBAUM COMPOSER'S AWARD. ADREAN BELIEVES THAT MUSIC IS A POWERFUL FORM OF COMMUNICATION THAT HAS THE POWER TO INSPIRE AND HEAL BOTH THE PERFORMER AND THE LISTENER, AS WELL AS REVEALING A HIGHER SENSE OF BEING WHICH EXISTS IN ALL PEOPLE. IT IS THIS BELIEF THAT DRIVES HIS CONTINUED JOURNEY AND COMMITMENT TO MUSICAL GROWTH AND SHARING. ADREAN FARRUGIA IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AT ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY IN ANTIGONISH, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA. _______________________________ JUNE 18 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. GRAMMY MULTI-AWARD NOMINEE LATIN GRAMMY AWARD RECIPIENT MULTI-AWARD RECIPIENT Featuring YAILEN DURAN AWARD RECIPIENT ONE OF CANADA'S UN-RIVALLED JAZZ PIANO MASTERS, HILARIO DURAN WILL PERFORM ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS FROM HIS LATEST RECORDING PROJECTS WITH HIS DAUGHTER, YAILEN DURAN. ....... MORE _______________________________ JUNE 19 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. A "JAZZICAL" CONCERT ORIGINALLY HAILING FROM BELARUS, ALEX KAZAK IS A CLASSICALLY TRAINED JAZZ PIANIST, COMPOSER, ARRANGER, AND MUSIC PRODUCER. WITH OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN A DIVERSE RANGE OF ENSEMBLES - FROM SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRAS TO BIG BANDS - ALEX BEGAN HIS JOURNEY AS A BAND LEADER IN A SMALL JAZZ GROUP AND HAS SINCE TRAVELED THE GLOBE, COLLABORATING WITH MANY TALENTED AND RENOWNED MUSICIANS ALONG THE WAY. ALEX IS ALWAYS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR FELLOW MUSICIANS WHO SHARE HIS PASSION AND VISION FOR MUSIC. AFTER ALL, GREAT MUSIC IS BEST CREATED IN GREAT COMPANY! _______________________________ JUNE 22 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. A "JAZZICAL" CONCERT ANTHONY HAS A NATURAL FEELING FOR SWING AND GROOVE, SCINTILLATING TECHNIQUE AND A PENCHANT FOR SUCH FEEL-GOOD PIANISTS AS ERROLL GARNER, OSCAR PETERSON, AND MONTY ALEXANDER." - STEVE WALLACE - WHOLENOTE MAGAZINE ANTHONY D'ALESSANDRO IS A PIANIST, COMPOSER, ARRANGER, AND BANDLEADER BASED IN TORONTO, CANADA., HE HAS PERFORMED IN MANY NOTABLE CLUBS, CONCERT HALLS AND JAZZ FESTIVALS AROUND THE WORLD INCLUDING THE MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, HE REGULARLY PERFORMS ALONGSIDE A "WHO'S WHO" OF CANADA'S TOP JAZZ MUSICIANS INCLUDING NEIL SWAINSON, TERRY CLARKE, PAT LABARBARA, AND ERNESTO CERVINI, AND HAS PERFORMED OR TOURED WITH MANY NOTABLE NYC BASED MUSICIANS. D'ALESSANDRO'S MUSIC HAS TAKEN HIM THROUGHOUT CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, SOUTH AMERICA AND EUROPE, AND HE HOLDS A BACHELOR OF MUSIC DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. _______________________________ Current to April 24, 2026 _______________________________ CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2025 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2024 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2023 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2019 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2018 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2017 CONCERTS & RECITALS SERIES - 2016 THE STOLLAR CONSTRUCTION TEACHERS & STUDENTS RECITAL SERIES JUNE 11 5:00 p.m. "MOVING ART CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS" - MEAGHAN ING -- _______________________________ JUNE 12 4:00 p.m. "McFADDEN SCHOOL OF MUSIC" - JULIE & DAVID McFADDEN - _______________________________ JUNE 13 12:30 p.m. "JOYFUL SOUNDS MUSIC STUDIO" - CHERYL GRAHAM - 4:30 p.m. "MITZI & DEMI MUSIC STUDIO" - MITZI LANGFIELD - _______________________________ JUNE 15 6:30 p.m. "MORNING DAWN STUDIO" - VALERIE SMITH - _______________________________ JUNE 16 5:00 p.m. TBA 7:00 p.m. "MUSICAL CYNDI STUDIO" - CYNDI VAN ARRAGON - _______________________________ JUNE 17 5:00 p.m. MARK WIDNER 6:00 p.m. TBA _______________________________ JUNE 18 5:30 p.m. TBA- _______________________________ JUNE 19 4:30 p.m. MICHELLE HARPER 5:30 p.m. "PIANO FOREVER" - SUSAN HENSLEY - _______________________________ JUNE 20 12:30 p.m. SUSAN PAJOR 3:30 p.m. "LAURIE'S PIANO STUDIO" - LAURIE NICHOL - _______________________________ JUNE 22 4:30 p.m. "JENNIFER MARTIN STUDIO" - JENNIFER MARTIN - 6:00 p.m. "THE STUDIOS OF CARLY ANN METE & KRISTINE MOLINARO" _______________________________ Current To FEBRUARY 27, 2026

THIS PROGRAMME SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
Current to APRIL 25, 2026