INFORMATION FOR
Jazz master Paquito D’Rivera will perform with the William Paterson Latin Jazz Ensemble, directed by Chico Mendoza, at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, April 1 in the finale of the spring 2012 Jazz Room Series.
The concert, presented in conjunction with the University’s 2012 Cross-Cultural Arts Festival: Latin America and the Caribbean, will begin at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus. Prior to the concert, D’Rivera will be the guest for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 p.m. in room 101 of Shea Center. Tickets are available at the Shea Center Box Office in advance, 973.720.2371 or wplive.org, or on the day of the performance at $15; $12 senior citizens, William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni; and $8 for non-William Paterson students. William Paterson students may attend free of charge. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticket holders.
A native of Cuba, D’Rivera first burst onto the world’s music scene as a member of the Grammy-winning ensemble Irakere. Since then, D’Rivera has achieved worldwide acclaim as a saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His discography includes more than 30 solo albums of jazz, bebop and Latin music, and he has won numerous Latin jazz and classical Grammy Awards, including a 2004 Grammy for “Best Instrumental Composition” for his “Merengue” as performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. In addition to his performing career as an instrumentalist, D/Rivera has gained recognition as a composer. He was appointed composer-in-residence in 2007-08 at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. D’Rivera has also published two books, My Sax Life and Oh, La Habana. D'Rivera is a recipient of the National Medal for the Arts, presented at the White House by President George W. Bush in 2005, and he was named one of the 2005 NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Jazz Masters.
Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals, who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, from practitioners of traditional jazz to avant-garde to bebop to swing to Afro-Latin jazz, as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 25 years of continuous support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its innovative programming.
Funding for The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State.
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