Description

• Vaccination Card or Excelsior Pass required to attend
• Children under 12 must present a negative COVID test done within 3 days prior to the event.
• Mask wearing will be required for all audience members throughout the concert.
• Limited seating.

Saxophones: Dan Block, Patience Higgins, Matt Hong, Adam Kolker, Bruce Williamson

Trombones: Art Baron, Sam Burtis, Curtis Fowlkes, James Rogers

Trumpets: Andy Gravish, Ron Horton, Dave Smith, James Zollar

Rhythm section: Neal Kirkwood, piano, Aidan O’Donnell, bass, Rob Garcia, drums

Wide Open Works is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council. Also, it is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).

Our contributors include:
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts
Brooklyn Arts Council

About the artists:

Neal Kirkwood: Neal Kirkwood, composer, pianist, writes music for jazz and contemporary classical ensembles.He has composed for jazz big band, classical ensembles, vocal ensembles, solo piano and full orchestra.He has received commissions from the New York State Music Fund; the New York State Council for the Arts; the Children’s Aid Society;the Jazz Composer’s Alliance and Belgian ensemble Octurn.As a band leader, Neal Kirkwood has recorded five CDs: “Blue Inventions” (Present Eye Music, 2019); “Time’s Circle,”(Present Eye Music, date); “The Neal Kirkwood Octet”; “The Chromatic Persuaders”;“Extrospection” (Timescraper Records).Currently Mr. Kirkwoodconducts and plays in his 17-piece ensemble,The Neal Kirkwood Big Band,in New York City.His newest recording is a solo piano exploration of standards, “Welcome To My Dream”Kirkwood has performed and recorded withjazz artists Pony Poindexter, Bobby Previte, Lindsey Horner, Phillip Johnston, and Mike Clark and others.He has toured internationally with vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Abby Lincoln, Michel Hermon, and Chris Connor.He works extensively composing for, and performing with, New York’screative and experimental theater ensembles.For 20 years he has composed new music every year for Ralph Lee’s Mettawee Theater.He has composed songs and incidental music for playwright Jim Neu productions.He has worked with experimental theater directors Joseph Chaiken and Anne Bogart.Born and raised in California, Neal Kirkwoodbegan piano lessons at age of 8.He attended North Texas State University and California State University Hayward briefly before settling in San Francisco in 1976 to begin his career as a jazz pianist and composer.Moving to New York City in 1981, he earned a master’s degree in composition from Mannes College of Music, where he studied with composer Charles Jones.Mr. Kirkwoodwas a charter member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop,and studied with Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam.An experienced and dedicated educator, he is currently on the faculties of the Third Street Music School in New York City and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and teaches piano, composition and arranging privately.He has presented masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music and Musikhochschule, Luzern, andwas awarded the National Dance Institute Teacher of the Year award in 2007 for his work with public school students in New York City.
www.nealkirkwood.com

Social Media Links
YouTube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClTGh39qhsLC45g-2K6ncyA
Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/Neal-Kirkwood-Music-475606992522657
Bandcamp -https://nealkirkwood.bandcamp.com/

Upcoming Wide Open Works events at the Brooklyn Conservatory:

Saturday, December 4 – WOW at Ibeam Brooklyn
Lineup TBA

Tuesday, December 7 – WOW at Soapbox Gallery
Michel Gentile FLOW

Sunday, December 19 – WOW at the Brooklyn Conservatory:
WORKS (Michel Gentile, Daniel Kelly, Rob Garcia)

ALSO, Stay tuned for upcoming events at Me, Myself and Eye curated by Michel Gentile and produced by Connection Works. A series of solo concerts at 440 Gallery, 440 6th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215.
https://440gallery.com

Connection Works is an artist-run non-profit organization (501c3) that engages the Brooklyn community with world-class jazz performances and educational events. Our programs promote and facilitate new work by established and up-and-coming artists alike. We provide a forum that supports the astonishing number of brilliant artists in our borough. We at Connection Works believe in and encourage the practice of creativity as a means to nourish the mind, body, and spirit. www.connectionworks.org

Connection Works’ Wide Open Works (WOW) concert series provides Brooklyn with events meriting large-scale international attention, maintaining the highest standards in performance and education, presented in a community-based format.

Musicians that have performed at Connection Works events include:
Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, John Abercrombie, Sheila Jordan, Cameron Brown, Scott Colley, Vic Juris, Tony Marino, Marko Marcinko, Matt Darriau, Anat Cohen, Howard Alden, Theo Bleckmann, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Coleman, Gene Bertoncini, Dafnis Prieto, Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Dave Valentine, Scott Robinson, Jerome Harris, Tony Malaby, Nasheet Waits, John Hebert, Loren Stillman, Bill McHenry, Chris Lightcap, Dan Tepfer, Noah Preminger, Charlie Burnham, Steve Cardenas, Joe Martin, Dan Weiss, Avishai Cohen, Jean Rohe, Manuel Valera, Hans Glawishnig, Chris Tarry, Lonnie Plaxico, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Marty Ehrlich, Mariel Roberts, Olivia De Prato, Massimo Biolcati, Rodney Green, Judi Silvano, Michael Formanek, Gerry Hemingway, Bill O’Connell, Myra Casales, Kyoko Kitamura, Scott Lee, Gary Versace, Jeff Hirshfield, Andrew Rathburn, Jonathan Finlayson, Tim Albright, Jen Shyu, Miles Okazaki, Shane Endsley, Nir Felder, Briggan Krauss, Masa Kamaguchi, Matt Pavolka, Nate Radley, Roland Schneider, Joel Frahm, Kenny Wessel, Jim Whitney, Yosvany Terry, Osmany Peredes, Obed Calvaire, Vince Giordano, Peck Allmond, Barney McAll, Aaron Diehl, Zaid Shukri, Joel Harrison, Fima Ephron, Jordan Perlson, Tareq Abboushi, Zafer Tawil, Barry Bryson, Herb Gardiner, Jack Stucky, Dave Ambrosio, Matt Renzi, Angelica Sanchez, Anders Nilsson, Nicki Denner, Anton Denner, Andrew Rathbun, Jennifer Vincent, Willie Martinez, Jorge Maldonado, Mark Miller, Christelle Durandy, Brahim Fribgane, Tony Romano, Adam Kolker, Joe Fitzgerald, Ben Monder, Adam Rudolph, Matt Wilson, Paul Sikivie, Jeff Lederer, Gilad Heckselman, Marcus Gilmore, Dave Scott, Gary Wang, Peter Apfelbaum, Patrice Blanchard, David Phelps, Ben Kono, Jeremy Viner, Dan Willis, Bohdan Hilash, Rob Hudson, Mike Christianson, Jacob Garchik, Jeff Nelson, Jon Owens, Tony Kadleck, Dave Ballou, Laurie Frink, Kermit Driscoll, John Hollenbeck, Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, J.C. Sanford, Chris Dingman, John Replogle, Dave Smith, Jay Gandhi, Samir Gupta, Abhik Mukherjee, John McNeil, Howard Johnson, Lolly Bienenfeld, Kenny Pexton, Jeremy Udden, Mark Small, Kenny Berger, Danny Weller, Tyson Stubelek, Ron Horton, Tim Horner, John O’Gallagher, Marc Mommaas, Scott Robinson, Nate Eklund, Alan Ferber, Mark Sherman, Frank Kimbrough, Martin Wind, Jason Lindner, Vincente Archer, Anthony Pinciotti, Daniel Kelly, Michel Gentile, Rob Garcia and many more.

Our advisory board includes Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Woody Allen, Bill de Blasio, Dan Zanes, Joel Thome, and David Gonzalez.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Wide Open Works is made possible, in part, with public funds from the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered in Kings County by Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.