|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Jade Simmons makes debut with Illinois Symphony Over Valentine's weekend, in a concert themed "Rhythmically Rousing", pianist Jade Simmons will perform Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini and Gershwin's I Got Rhythm Variations with the Illinois Symphony two times, once in Bloomington and once in Springfield. But before she takes to the stage under the direction of Karen Lynne Deal, earlier in the week she will perform and speak to students in elementary, middle and high schools in addition to an appearance at a local Boys and Girls Club. According to Sergio Mims of Ebony/Jet Magazine, "Among the new generation of classical music artists, few are making the huge impact and receiving the kind of acclaim that pianist Jade Simmons has been of late." Indeed, Ms. Simmons relishes in the chance to make an impact both on and away from the stage and is excited that the Illinois Symphony is providing her with that opportunity while in town. Jade Smalls Simmons is no stranger to Illinois. She received her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. While there she went on to become Miss Chicago, Miss Illinois and ultimately 1st runner-up at the 2000 Miss America pageant taking the issue of youth suicide prevention as her national platform. In 2008, she made her debut on the Ravinia Rising Stars Series and performed with the Chicago Sinfonietta in Symphony Hall. In 2009, she served as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago where her younger sister and volleyball standout, Isis Smalls, led the team for the first time in the school's history to the NCAA tournament during the 2010 volleyball season. Described as a "clear, powerful pianist with a magnetic personality" (Washington Post), Simmons looks forward to bringing her trademark flair to the stage in the stunning Rachmaninoff-Paganini Rhapsody. No stranger to Russian music, last season Jade toured a program called Russian Ruminations featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Scriabin. In museums and art galleries across the country she lectured and performed as a part of a program she created called Scriabin and Kandinsky: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which pairs the music of Alexander Scriabin with the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, on loan to her from the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In the Gershwin I Got Rhythm Variations, Jade's affinity for overtly rhythmic pieces inspired by jazz and popular music will be on full display. An avid advocate of American music, Simmons made her recording debut with a critically acclaimed release on E1 Records called Revolutionary Rhythm which is an eclectic collection of American works for piano featuring Russell Pinkston, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano and Daniel Bernard Roumain and including works for piano with electronics. This will be Simmons' debut of the Gershwin. Also on the program are Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Ravel's Bolero. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |