Leigh Pilzer to Perform at University of Scranton

On Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m., Performance Music at The University of Scranton will present a concert featuring The University of Scranton Jazz Band and Saxophone Ensemble with special guest baritone and bass saxophonist Leigh Pilzer. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.

In addition, Pilzer will also offer a free masterclass for local musicians, music teachers and their students in the afternoon before the concert on the topic of section playing. Please email music@scranton.edu for more information on the masterclass.

The concert on Saturday evening will highlight a variety of songs featuring two different instrumentations, according to Performance Music Conductors and Co-Directors Philip Kuehn and Cheryl Y. Boga. Pilzer will perform a variety of selections with the University’s Jazz Band and Saxophone Ensemble, both groups made up of student musicians from majors spanning the curriculum.

Pilzer is a Washington, D.C.-based saxophonist, arranger and educator. She has toured domestically and internationally as a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and often performs with the National Symphony Orchestra at concerts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As an arranger, Pilzer’s work is in the libraries of the SJMO, DIVA, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, the DC-area premier military jazz ensembles, and college and professional jazz ensembles and brass quintets throughout the country. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance with jazz emphasis from George Mason University; master’s degrees in jazz studies and saxophone performance from The University of Maryland; and a Bachelor of Music in jazz composition and arranging from the Berklee College of Music.

The primary focus of Performance Music at The University of Scranton is its student choral and instrumental performing ensembles. There is no music major at the University, and all enrolled Scranton students (undergraduate and graduate) from every major are eligible for membership in the University bands, choirs and string ensembles, with neither an audition nor enrollment fee required for membership. Hundreds of students participate in the ensembles each year. Other programs within the department, including guest artist concerts, World Premiere Composition Series, Nelhybel Collection, and Scranton Brass Orchestra, closely coordinate programming with the student ensembles and offer unique opportunities for student musicians in the ensembles to hear, observe, interact and perform with numerous world-class musicians and artist-teachers. High school juniors and seniors who are considering applying to Scranton are encouraged to contact Performance Music to arrange to sit in on a rehearsal, meet the staff, attend a concert or tour the building.

For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624 or visit the Performance Music webpage (scranton.edu/music). For more info on Pilzer, visit www.leighpilzer.com.