Yuletide Baroque and Beyond Features Cohan, Nery, Lund and Tsatsanis — and Jazz!

A Baroque and Jazz Christmas Concert!

Thursday, December 27 at 2 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Parish

Emmanuel Episcopal Parish presents the sixth Yuletide Baroque & Beyond: Jazzin’ with the Classics for Christmas with soprano Linda Tsatsanis, jazz flutist Martin Lund (who will also play clarinet and piano), classical flutist Jeffrey Cohan and jazz guitarist Gene Nery on Thursday afternoon, December 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM at Emmanuel Episcopal Parish in Eastsound. Please call (360) 376-2352 for more information. Admission is free, and donations will be accepted.

In this program, four renowned classical and jazz artists and friends meld their musical perspectives in an unusual collaboration and a unique celebration of the Yuletide season that will generate an abundance of Christmas cheer. Tsatsanis, Lund, Cohan and Nery will team up to bridge contemporary improvisational jazz and the “art music” of baroque and renaissance times. Instrumental musicians have “jazzed up” melodies familiar to them in the style of their day for centuries, and this team’s virtuoso improvisations on Yuletide favorites, and their unique renditions of classical standards such as arias from Handel’s Messiah will bring together the best of jazz and classical worlds.

Gene Nery

GENE NERY

Orcas Island treasure Gene Nery is a professional musician who has traveled the world performing as a vocalist and guitarist for Princess Cruises. He settled down on Orcas in the 1980’s but originally comes from Vancouver, BC. He performed as an entertainer at Rosario Resort for 20 years performing solo and with his band.

His music ranges from swing to contemporary pop, providing quality and memorable entertainment that appeals to many generations. He has several CD recordings available under the Pure and Simple record label where he has worked as a recording artist, producer, arranger and engineer.

He earned a platinum record award for singing “Above The Northern Lights” on Mannheim Steamroller’s CD “A Christmas Song” which also features Johnny Mathis and Olivia Newton John. Gene is also a computer guru, an expert in audio technologies and an avid photographer who knows far too many jokes.

LINDA TSATSANIS

Linda Tsatsanis

Hailed as “ravishing” (New York Times) and possessing “sheer vocal proficiency, a bright, flexible voice, big but controlled, shaded with plentiful color” (Boston Globe), Canadian soprano Linda Tsatsanis enjoys an active and diverse career. Ms. Tsatsanis’ versatile voice makes her equally comfortable on the opera stage and concert hall while being able to sing intimate renaissance song or world premier performances such as a stunning arrangement made for her, cello and string orchestra of the Preludes of Bach’s Cello Suites.

Ms. Tsatsanis has appeared as soloist with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, Pacific Musicworks, Orchestra Seattle, Helios Opera, Pacific Baroque Orchestra and has recently been presented by the Early Music Society of the Islands (Victoria, BC), Indianapolis Early Music Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society, and Magnolia Baroque Festival. Ms. Tsatsanis holds degrees from the University of Toronto and Indiana University. She has a solo album with Origin Classical, “And I Remain: Three Love Stories,” described as a “seductive recital of the darker sides of 17th-century love” (Gramophone), and can also be heard on recordings by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Naxos. Currently Ms. Tsatsanis lives in Seattle, Washington.

MARTIN LUND

Martin Lund

Martin Lund, one of the most diverse musicians in the universe, has played with some of the great blues artists of our time and worked in the studios of LA as a composer, arranger and musician with artists like Mel Torme to Isacc Hayes. His eclectic background has allowed him to move freely through any style of music from classical to rock and from jazz to Broadway.

He is equally adept at clarinet, saxophone, flute and piano. Martin is a well-known performer and teacher who produces one of Orcas Island’s most popular summer music events, The One World Music Festival, a jazz-based musical variety show with Orcas Island’s best musicians and top-notch talent from beyond the islands. Martin graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in both music and music education.

JEFFREY COHAN

Flutist Jeffrey Cohan has performed as soloist in 25 countries, both on modern and early transverse flutes from the Renaissance through the present. The winner of many important competitions and awards, he has performed throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and worldwide for the USIA Arts America Program. Many works have been written for and premiered by him, including five new flute concerti since 2000.

Jeffrey Cohan (photo by Tate Cohan)

He is artistic director of the Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival in Washington, DC, the Black Hawk Chamber Music Festival in the Midwest and the Salish Sea Early Music Festival in the Pacific Northwest. He can “play many superstar flutists one might name under the table” according to the New York Times and is “The Flute Master” (headline) according to the Boston Globe.