Trumpet Festival Details Announced

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NEW YORK—The lineup for this year’s Festival Of New Trumpet Music (FONT Music), directed by Dave Douglas, features programs curated by Taylor Ho Bynum, Mark Gould, John McNeil and Jeremy Pelt, festival organizers announced Friday.

Taking place Sept. 15-30, the festival will launch with a benefit concert Sept. 15 at St. Mark’s Church, followed by two nights of contemporary trumpet music at The Manhattan School of Music, curated by Gould, former principal trumpeter of the Metropolitan Opera. In addition to world premieres of new works by composers Huang Ruo and Jason Price, this portion of FONT Music will feature the U.S. premiere of Douglas’ piece for chamber orchestra, solo trumpet, bass and percussion, “Blue Latitudes.”

Cornetist/composer Bynum and trumpet player McNeil have co-curated a program of emerging and established artists expanding the jazz tradition, taking place at Cornelia Street Cafe, Barbes and Tea Lounge, and featuring the likes of Ralph Alessi, Shane Endsley, George Colligan, the Kenny Wolleson Big Band, Jonathan Finlayson, Dave Ballou, Herb Robertson and many others. Bynum is also the co-curator for the events at St. Mark’s Church and Abrons Art Center, featuring an international array of musicians exploring new forms of composition and improvisation.

Rising star trumpeter Pelt steps into the fold as well, co-curating a week of events at The Iridium, including the world premiere of his project with Douglas, “Inspiration,” featuring Eddie Henderson. Other highlights of the Iridium week include three more world premieres: Cecil Bridgewater, Eddie Allen and Rod McGaha’s “Music of the Masters”; Wadada Leo Smith’s “Seven”; and the Jason Palmer Quintet featuring Greg Osby.

Visit fontmusic.org for more information.



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