"Let Us Entertain You" - A Fundraiser for the Watchung Arts Center

“Let us entertain you! Let us make you smile!”

The Watchung Arts Center presents “Let Us Entertain You! - A Musical Variety Show” on Saturday, February 27 at 8 PM. The concert, a fundraiser for the benefit of the Watchung Arts Center, will feature an array of performers of many ages, many styles, and many talents.

Coming from towns that include Watchung, Warren, North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Martinsville, Scotch Plains and Rockaway, as well as Easton, PA, the performers scheduled to appear are vocalist Kanttara; young jazz pianist Nathan Graham; vocal/piano duo Deborah and Gordon Rowan; another jazz piano prodigy, Leonieke Scheuble, with her father Nick on drums; vocalist Roseanne Latore Sicola and singer/songwriter Joe Higgins.

A rhythm section consisting of Fred Fischer on piano, Gene Perla on bass and drummer Nick Scheuble will accompany the performers, along with saxophonist Marty Eigen, who will also serve as host for the evening.

A dessert reception will follow the concert, providing an opportunity to meet the performers.
All tickets for this special event are $15. Tickets may be purchased online at watchungartscenter.eventbrite.com, or in-person during the Watchung Arts Center’s gallery hours.

Roseanne Latore Sicola has been performing classical music and showtunes for audiences for over 20 years. Weekly, she teaches parent-child music classes for infants to preschoolers and leads worship music at St. Mary’s Stony Hill in Watchung. The mother of 5 young children, Roseann has a passion for performing both on stage and in her kitchen to keep her kids happy!

Kanttarra is a professional Jazz and Blues Singer, Songwriter, Healer and a teacher. Born in Israel and singing since childhood, she has traveled the world singing, acting, performing on National TV, Theater productions along with World Renowned Israeli artists, Rita, Doodo Fisher, Oozi Chitman, Mati Caspi and Ze’ev Revach. She performed with the “Sun Band” and “Vin Cardinal” Band in Eilat, Israel. Kanttara received a Senior Certified Teacher Degree in Musical Education in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she specialized in working with children. Kanttara currently resides in the NY Tri-State area as a solo artist and performs Jazz, Blues, R&B, “Folk To Funk” music.

Pianist Nathan Graham is a senior at Scotch Plains Fanwood High School. He has studied music since he was five and has performed in NJPAC’s “Jazz for Teens”, The Ivory Jazz Band, and many school bands and choirs. He is planning to attend Emerson College to study film as he is very involved in his high school’s AV Club as well. Nathan hopes to one day portray the flow and serenity of jazz into many feature films.

Leonike Scheuble - Pianist/organist Leonike (phonetically pronounced lay-o-nee-ka), was inspired to play after watching the movie “Ray”. In 2013, at the age of 11, she recorded her first CD, “Debut” with legendary Blue Note engineer, Rudy Van Gelder along with drummer, Jimmy Cobb (of the famed Miles Davis Quintet). In 2015, she was named Hot House magazine’s “Best Up and Coming Young Artist” .

Gordon and Deborah Rowan - Gordon Rowan, as music director at First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, and his wife Deborah, who sings soprano in the choir there, enjoy singing and playing music together at home as well as church, but find their most appreciative audience in their nineteen-month-old twins. Music happens occasionally in spare moments afforded by parenthood and their careers as ESL high school teacher (Gordon) and marketing consultant (Deborah).

Self-taught on guitar, Joe Higgins has been playing since the age of 13. He also plays electric bass guitar, and uses the piano for much of his songwriting. Joe played at a number of clubs on Long Island, before moving to NJ in the ‘70’s. A member of the acoustic trio “Perfect Strangers” in the early ‘80’s, Joe remained active in music as a member of the choir at Wilson Memorial Church in Watchung. His CD, “The Stone Grizzly Project”, recorded in 2006, included songs he’d written over the past 30 years. In 2009, he joined a Meetup group, New Jersey Acoustic Music in the Park, and has been a frequent performer at the group’s showcases. He also helps to run the group’s Wednesday workshop, helping other musicians to develop their performance skills. Joe’s current day job is as the Office Manager of the Watchung Arts Center.

Marty Eigen is a familiar face to Watchung Arts Center patrons, as the leader of Marty Eigen’s Beacon Hill Jazz Band, and founder of the Beacon Hill Musicians Guild. In addition to his frequent appearances at the WAC, you’ll often find Marty at the Bickford Theatre in Morristown or Shanghai Jazz in Madison.

Fred Fischer is a classically trained pianist and church organist, but his first love is jazz. Fischer has been playing professionally since the age of 12, when he and 15-year-old jazz clarinetist Brad Terry played a New Year’s Eve party in their Connecticut hometown. By the age of 13, Fischer was taking the train to Julliard each week to study with well-known jazz instructor Johnny Mehegan. There, on the advice of jazz commentator and radio broadcaster Father Norman O’Connor, Fischer studied piano with Margaret Chaloff, mother of the great jazz saxophonist, Serge Chaloff. Fred is the organist and choir director at the United Church of Christ in Plainfield, a position he has held for the past 23 years. He plays a jazz service there the last Sunday of each month, often with guest artists. He is also a frequent performer at the Watchung Arts Center, as the pianist and occasional vocalist for Marty Eigen’s Beacon Hill Jazz Band.

Gene Perla was raised in New Jersey where he studied classical piano and trombone. After attending Berklee School of Music he moved to New York and began his musical career as a jazz bassist. He has performed and/or recorded with Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Joni Mitchell, Buddy Rich, Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Stone Alliance, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and others

Nick Scheuble - Since graduating from William Paterson University in 1991 with a degree in Jazz Studies and performance, drummer Nick Scheuble has performed and/or recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Ray Barretto, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Dave Valentin, Steve Turre, Jeanie Bryson, Chico Mendoza, David Berger, Peter Bernstein, The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, and Eric Alexander. Nick has performed at Lincoln Center, Birdland, The Village Gate, Cafe de Muze (Belgium), Aaron Davis Hall, John Harms Center, Mechanics Hall, and other noted venues throughout America and Europe.

The Watchung Arts Center, located at 18 Stirling Road in Watchung on the Watchung Circle, is a multi-disciplinary arts facility serving Watchung, the surrounding communities and the Tri-State Area. To obtain more information about upcoming performances, classes and workshops, and monthly art exhibitions, please visit WatchungArts.org or call 908-753-0190.