Neighbor News
Sacred Jazz: Music by Renowned Composer Deanna Witkowski at St. Paul's Church, Aug. 28
NYC pianist/composer Deanna Witkowski brings her sacred jazz to St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Alexandria on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 10 AM
Witkowski’s playing is consistently thrilling and her musical imagination seems boundless. – All Music Guide
One of the best of the new generation of jazz pianists. – Jazz Journal
Manhattan-based pianist/composer Deanna Witkowski presents her liturgical jazz in morning worship on Sunday, August 28 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 S. Pitt Street in Alexandria. Witkowski will lead a forum discussion after the service, and will also perform at Twins Jazz at 8 and 10 p.m. that evening with a quintet led by trombonist and composer James Hall.
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More information is available below and at deannajazz.com.
Possessing a supple sense of swing, ravishing touch, and vast harmonic resources, Manhattan-based pianist/composer Deanna Witkowski has created an utterly personal body of music informed by her deep knowledge of jazz, classical and Brazilian forms. The winner of the 2002 Great American Jazz Piano Competition and a former guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Witkowski has released five critically hailed albums since 2000. Her 2014 solo piano release, Raindrop: Improvisations with Chopin, seamlessly combines jazz, Chopin, and the music of Brazil. Her earlier quartet recordings, Length of Days (2005), Wide Open Window (2003), and Having to Ask (2000) clearly demonstrate her prowess as "one of the best of the new generation of jazz pianists" (Jazz Journal International) and showcase her rich fusions of jazz, Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban music.
Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A prolific composer, Witkowski is well known for her work combining jazz and liturgy. Her 2009 liturgical jazz release, From This Place, led to a second appearance on NPR’s Weekend Edition. Witkowski also specializes in the sacred jazz of Mary Lou Williams, and has presented performance/lectures on Williams at the Kennedy Center, Loyola University Chicago, and Duke University. She is a frequent presenter on jazz and spirituality, and has lectured at the International Thomas Merton Society Meeting, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and the Hymn Society national conference.
