Celebrated Jazz Musician Sasha Berliner to join Fairfield University’s Jazz Ensemble Concert on Thursday, April 19 | Press Releases

The Ensemble’s Spring concert will feature special guest Sasha Berliner alongside Fairfield University students and community members

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Apr. 6, 2018)- The Fairfield University Jazz Ensemble will present its annual concert on Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gonzaga Auditorium with special guest Sasha Berliner being featured on the vibraphone. Tickets for the performance are $5 and will be available to purchase at the door.

Directed by Brian Q. Torff, Fairfield University’s Music Program Director, the Jazz Ensemble brings together a mix of energy and flavor while performing classics from Mary Lou Williams, Jimmy Smith, and Dickey Betts. The concert will feature student Jazz Ensemble co-leader, Joey Barbieri ’20, alongside a special duo performance by Torff and guest artist Berliner.

Since 1991, the Jazz Ensemble has had over 40 guest artists join their performances, and this year, Berliner, a musician, composer, and producer will join the elite group of special guests. Berliner has shared the stage with many respected musicians receiving appreciation from jazz musicians such as Sean Jones, Tia Fuller, and Terri Lyne Carington. Currently attending The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, she studies under contemporary jazz vibrationists Stefon Harris and Chris Dingman. Her next musical project, her album Azalea , is set to be released by the end of 2018.

Torff is a bassist, composer, author, and educator where he currently serves as Music Program Director at Fairfield University. He has led the Jazz Ensemble since 1991. He has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune , and Jazz Times , among many other music publications. Founder of the Fairfield University Summer Jazz Workshop, he has served as co-chair for the music advisory board for the National Endowment of the Arts.

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Fairfield University is the modern Jesuit Catholic university rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe are pursuing degrees in the University’s five schools. Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values. The University is located on a stunning 200-acre campus on the scenic Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.