Mike Packer, drums

Tim Emmons, bass

with special guest artist, Sara Andon, flute

Program

Group Improvisation….Introduction to Skipping  Bryan Pezzone
Skipping
Lament
Skeeball
Bryan Pezzone, with Sara Andon, Mike Packer, Tim Emmons

Berceuse  Bryan Pezzone
Impromptu in C minor Op. 90, No.1  Franz Schubert
Improvised Variations on "We shall overcome"  Traditional
Bryan – solo piano

Piece en forme de Habanera  Maurice Ravel
Sara and Bryan

Suite for Flute and Jazz piano  Claude Bolling
     1. Baroque and Blue
     2. Sentimentale
     3. Veloce
Sara, Bryan, Mike and Tim

  Bryan Pezzone is the consummate crossover pianist of his generation. He has excelled in classical, contemporary, jazz, and experimental genres and is known for both his versatility and virtuosity as a performing artist, improviser and composer. He has performed with many major symphony orchestra associations, has toured widely with the jazz group “Free Flight”, and is known in the Los Angeles area as one of the primary free-lance pianists for film and television soundtrack recording, contemporary music premieres, and chamber music accompanying. He is often asked to give workshops on his comprehensive approach to improvisation and is a consulting editor for the well-known publication “Piano and Keyboard.”

  As a soloist, Bryan has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pasadena Pops, Santa Monica Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra, United States International University Orchestra, U.C. Irvine Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia and the Pacific Symphony. He has also been invited by several top universities to perform solo keyboard concerts that blend traditional concert repertoire, improvisations and original works using the Yamaha Midi Grand. These include: Willamette University for its Distinguished Artist Series, the University of Miami , Rice University and many Southern California appearances including the California Institute of the Arts where he was on the piano faculty for more than ten years and created their multi-focused keyboard program.

  Since beginning his career in Los Angeles in the mid ‘80s, Bryan has worked with many of the premiere contemporary music conductors (Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Kent Nagano), and is featured in collaboration on a number of professionally released recordings. He has also been involved with nearly every major festival, series and performing arts organization. This list includes: regular appearances on Sundays at Four (broadcast live on KUSC FM 91.5), Monday Evening Concerts, the Green Umbrella Series with both the Cal Arts New Century Players and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, the Ojai Festival, Joeffrey Ballet (soloist in Stravinsky's "Les Noces"), Southwest Chamber Music Series and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

  Recent recordings include the chamber works of John Biggs, "Settings" by Mel Powell, works of John Harbison and John Cage as well as with oboe soloist Allan Vogel ( Delos ), trombonist William Booth and many other area instrumentalists. Bryan has begun producing CDs of his own music which blends jazz and classical styles- most recently "Flying on Water" produced by Steve Wight and featuring M.B. Gordy on drums and Bart Samolis on bass.

  In addition, Bryan was the principal pianist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since its inception in 1991 through 1999. He received on-screen credit for his performance on the soundtrack of "The Game" (with Michael Douglas) and has been the pianist on virtually all of the cartoons released by Warner Brothers and Disney over the past six years. He is responsible for much of Yahama's Disklavier “Piano Soft Series” with solo titles as disparate as “The Best of Elton John," "Cinema Love Songs," and "Debussy Piano Works" along with literally dozens of others. He regularly performs at various clubs and bookstores (most notably Borders in Pasadena ) with his trio, as well as in a new set of concerts called "Freedom Series" where he interpolates free improvisation with original poetry.

  Bryan received his Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music in 1984 where he was awarded the Performers Certificate and won the concerto competition. He was invited to the Tanglewood Music Center two successive summers as a full scholarship fellow in 1983 and 1984 where he received the C.D. Jackson Master Award. He attended the Banif Centre during its winter term on scholarship from 1984-1985 as an alternative to graduate studies in order to have the necessary time to freely blend various aesthetics and diverse performance traditions into a unique approach. This passion remains the focus of his work and continues to evolve.

  Sara Andon is a versatile performer in many musical genres including solo, chamber, symphonic, operatic, ballet, and Broadway. She has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concerts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ojai Music Festival, and the Hollywood Bowl. She has also performed in orchestras for the Broadway musicals Peter Pan, Les Miserables, and Disney's Beauty and the Beast, as well as with the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, Glendale Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Orchestra New England, San Francisco Western Opera Theater, Miami City Ballet Touring Orchestras, Indian Wells Desert Symphony, Pasadena Pops, San Bernardino Symphony, California Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

  As a soloist and chamber musician, Ms. Andon has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, France, Italy, Greece and China, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall (NYC), St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, on CBS Sunday Morning and the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.She is also the solo flutist with the string chamber ensemble, Da Capo Players and Mirror Visions, a vocal chamber ensemble based in New York and Paris, France specializing in newly commissioned works as well as traditional literature.

  Ms. Andon holds a Masters of Music degree in Flute Performance from USC studying with Janet Ferguson and Roger Stevens and a postgraduate Artist Diploma from the Yale University School of Music studying with Ransom Wilson. While at Yale, Ms. Andon was awarded the prestigious Thomas Daniel Nyfenger Prize for Outstanding Performance.

  In 1996, Ms. Andon was invited to join the esteemed faculty of the University of Redlands as Professor of Flute and is also the Principal Flutist of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra as well as the Instructor of Flute at the Idyllwild Arts Academy , an international high school of the performing arts.
Ms. Andon maintains an active freelance career and is a recording artist in high demand and can be heard on many musical projects in the movie/television industry as well as on solo and chamber recordings. Please visit her personal Web site at www.SaraAndon.com for current concert dates and venues.

  Timothy Emmons is an active freelance musician in the Los Angeles area and a veteran of more than one hundred film and television scores including, The Simpsons, The Day After Tomorrow, Something's Gotta Give, The Incredibles, Family Guy, The Wedding Planner and Reefer Madness: The Musical. He has also played in the pit orchestra for dozens of major theatrical productions including Candide, Swan Lake , and Ragtime. An eclectic musician, Tim has recorded for Stevie Wonder and Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Andrea Boccelli, Brandy, John Tesh and Toni Braxton. He has performed with a diverse array of artists including Joe Pass , Richard Greene, Bo Diddley, Art Pepper, Liza Minelli, Donna Summer, Carol Channing, Rod Stewart and Cab Calloway.

  In 2000 he joined “Free Flight,” the seminal Classical-Jazz-Fusion ensemble founded in 1982 by former L.A. Philharmonic principal flautist Jim Walker. As an educator, he directs the Jazz Ensemble at Occidental college as well as teaching bass at Cal State LA, Azusa Pacific University , the University of Redlands and the University of California at Riverside .

  Drummer, Percussionist, Author Michael Bryan Packer, earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1992. While at UNC, Michael performed in many groups, most notably Jazz Lab 1, Combo 1 and The Axidentals. Each of these groups was awarded honors from Downbeat Magazine. Immediately following his graduation Michael relocated to Los Angeles . He continued his education with such industry veterans as Ralph Humphrey, Jeff Hamilton and Freddie Gruber alumnus Carl Tassi.

  Michael performs regularly throughout the Los Angeles area. Performance credits include clinics and concerts with the jazz classical quartet “Free Flight,” Steve Allen, Carl Anderson, Nils Lofgren, Lorna Luft, Regis Philbin, Susan Lucci and Ben Vereen. Television credits include Grounded for Life (WB), The Peoples Choice Awards (CBS), the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th CableAce Awards (TNT) and the 1995 Easter Seal Telethon.

  Michael is currently on faculty at the Los Angeles Music Academy (LAMA), Citrus College and Azusa Pacific University . He has written for Modern Drummer magazine and has two books available. His first book titled Feet Don't Fail Me Now is available through Hal Leonard Publishing. Tom Morgan of Percussive Notes Magazine writes: "Feet Don't fail Me Now is an excellent addition to the drumset instruction literature". Drum great Gregg Bissonette writes "Really great book! I recommend it for any serious drummer who is interested in improving their playing". Excerpts from Michael's second book The Bass Drum Owners Manual are being used as the curriculum at LAMA. It is available on his web site www.michaelpacker.com . Michael endorses Zildjian cymbals, Regal Tip drumsticks and the E Pad drum pads.

Funded in part by the Ted Roy Charity Foundation/Lake Arrowhead Country Club,
and Harry and Marjorie Johnson.