Description
Given the nature of today’s concert (8 musicians in 2 rooms) and all the time, equipment, and people involved, we are still taking further donations for this event. If you’d like to support this event you can donate any amount here.
This will allow us to pay the artists more for their time and to continue putting on events like this one
We’re so pleased to present Robert Buonaspina’s RB Grupo this Sunday (2/21)! The concert streams live at 5PM Eastern and will be available to purchasers for future viewing indefinitely
Robert Buonaspina (the recent recipient of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers Chuck Owen Prize in Jazz Composition) has put together quite a program for the Sunday. The 8-piece group is comprised of award-winning composers, Broadway musicians, university faculty, and everything in between… The music has influence from Brazil, Argentina, the classical canon, Duke Ellington, and more.
Rob is a dear friend of Mike and I’s and is someone we’ve always known to be a boundary pusher. Asking the absolute most from his musicians and never shying away from a project no matter how ambitious. It is our pleasure to be presenting this music, a very difficult feat to pull off in this time. For proper, the musicians will be put in two separate rooms where we will be using video monitors and headphones to allow them to perform in real time.
Jasper Dutz- Clarinet
Sam Towse– Piano
Hamish Smith– Bass
Juan Diego Villalobos – Percussion
Meg Okura– violin 1
Coco Taguchi- violin 2
Eddy Malave– viola
Wick Simmons– cello
Here’s some of Rob’s music for you to sample!
Robert Buonaspina is a New-York-City-based composer, arranger, pianist, organist, violist, and educator. Robert recently received his Master’s degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a student of Jim McNeely and Phil Markowitz.
As a composer and arranger, Robert has had the honor of having his work performed around the world, whether in Hamburg, Germany or at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. In January 2021, Robert was the recipient of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) Chuck Owen Prize in Jazz Composition, where his work for jazz ensemble, “Smile Pretty,” will be soon recorded and performed by the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany.
Whether as an arranger or a music copyist, Robert has collaborated heavy hitters across the scene — such as Joel Ross, Candice Hoyes, Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein, and Steven Feifke.
Robert also maintains a schedule as an active pianist and violist in the greater New York City area, sharing the stage with several key figures in New York, such as Lalah Hathaway, Vince Mendoza, Ralph Lalama, Melissa Errico, Alice Ripley. Between piano and viola, he has performed at seminal venues in New York such as Lincoln Center, 54 Below, and Riverside Church. Currently, Robert holds a full-time position as Director of Music and Organist of St. Pancras Roman Catholic Church in Glendale, Queens, and runs an arranging, production, and education studio out of his apartment on the Upper West Side. At St. Pancras Roman Catholic Church he manages a network of volunteer and professional cantors, two choirs, and several professionally produced events/concerts during the year. Robert is based on the Upper West Side where he freelances in music arranging, production, and education to a studio of motivated students.
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