Скачать или смотреть A Conversation In Jazz Leigh Pilzer

In this edition of A Conversation In Jazz we talk to the wonderful saxophonist, educator, composer and arranger Dr. Leigh Pilzer

Leigh Pilzer originally planned on a career as a cellist but was inspired, upon hearing the music of the CountBasie Orchestra at the age of eighteen, to begin saxophone lessons. She soon found her true voice on the
baritone saxophone, switched from cello to saxophone completely, and enrolled at the Berklee College ofMusic. After graduating from Berklee with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition and Arranging she
returned to her hometown of Washington, DC where she has been an active bandleader and freelancer since.She has led her small group in performance at many of DC’s top jazz venues such as Blues Alley, Twins Jazz,
Westminster Presbyterian, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Jazz at the Garden, the Mansion at Strathmore, and the Takoma Park JazzFest, to name just a few. She has toured both nationally and internationally as a
member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and often performs with the National Symphony Orchestra in concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and
on the orchestra’s nationally televised PBS holiday specials.

Leigh is a gifted arranger whose work is in the libraries of the SJMO, DIVA, the Bohemian Caverns JazzOrchestra, the DC-area premier military jazz ensembles, and college and professional jazz ensembles and brass
quintets throughout the country. Her arrangement of her original composition “East Coast Andy” is theopening track on The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (2018). Two more of Leigh’s arrangements were recorded by DIVA for Special Kay (2016) and another two for A Swingin’ Life (2014). Other arrangingcredits include horn section writing for recordings by Chuck Brown and Eva Cassidy and orchestrations for thecritically acclaimed show Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life.

Leigh is also an avid researcher. She has presented repertory concerts including “Collaboration in Jazz, Featuring the Music of Gerry Mulligan,” and “The Music of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary
Lou Williams, and Melba Liston,” (Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble); “Introduction to the Great Women of Jazz,” “The Music of Melba Liston,” and “Tribute to Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker,” (Washington Women in Jazz Festival); “Tribute to the Jazz Baritone Greats” and “Gerry Mulligan Meets
Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster” (United States Navy Band Saxophone Symposium). Clinic presentations include “Writing Thaddish: Evolution of a Big Band Arrangement” (8th Annual Jazz Education Network
Conference), “Doing Musical Detective Work: Finding and Editing Jazz Repertory Source Material” (Beyond the Notes Musicology lecture series, George Mason University), “Soloing in the Big Band: Strategies for
Success” (The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Beavercreek (OH) Weekend of Jazz, and “Music Theory & Score Interpretation: East Coast Andy” (The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA).

In addition to her bachelor’s degree from Berklee Leigh holds Master’s degrees in both Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance from The University of Maryland, College Park and a Doctor of Musical Arts in
Saxophone Performance with a jazz emphasis from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Leigh has
served on faculty at the University of Maryland, Towson University, and George Mason University, teaching Jazz Theory; Jazz Arranging; Jazz History; and Fundamentals of Rock, Blues, and Jazz.

Leigh’s debut CD Strunkin’ was released in late 2016 to critical acclaim. Strunkin’ was recorded live at the Washington Women in Jazz Festival and features six of Leigh’s compositions.

About Conversation In Jazz

Jazz is more than music. It is culture. It is the way we communicate. It's a life style. And through sharing the stories we can appreciate the music at a more dynamic level. We hope that by sharing the stories of jazz musicians, artists, educators, presenters, and enthusiasts, we can inspire and attract a new generation of jazz listeners, supporters, and appreciators of this original music.


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