NNAPERVILLE, IL – North Central College’s Jazz Faculty Concert Series continues Fri., Jan. 18, with “An Evening with jazz saxophonist Mitch Paliga.” The performance will be presented at 8PM in the Madden Theatre, located in the Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Avenue, just steps from downtown Naperville on the campus of North Central College.
The popular series features the nine members of the College’s highly esteemed Jazz Studies Program in various combinations. Joining Paliga will be vibraphonist Brad Stirtz, pianist Chris White, bassist Kelly Sill and drummer Jack Mouse.
Mitch Paliga is a Chicago-based saxophonist, educator and composer. Described as “…the next great voice on soprano saxophone” by Cadence Magazine, he has been touring with actor/musician Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band since 2007. As a member of the Lt. Dan Band, he has performed on U.S. military bases and hospitals in the U.S., Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan, Europe, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,Puerto Rico and Kuwait. He and the Lt. Dan Band have also performed at the National Memorial Day Concert, the Pentagon, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, West Point, the Air Force and Naval Academies, and CBS Television City.
Paliga has two recordings under his own name, Blithe Moments and Fall Night, both on the Origin label. He has recorded over 30 original compositions and arrangements with a variety of artists, and is a founding member of the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective. Paliga has a Master’s Degree in jazz pedagogy from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Eastern New Mexico University. He is a grant recipient from the National Endowment of the Arts and the City of Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program. He endorses AMT Microphones and is a D’Addario artist.
Q&A session with artists will follow concert
By popular demand, a new element has been added to the concert series. Following the concert the audience is invited to participate in a short Question/Answer session with the artists, an opportunity to learn more about the music that was performed.
This season’s series is co-presented by Flashpoint Creative Arts, a newly-founded nonprofit organization promoting improvisation as an essential life skill, not only in music and the arts but in everyday life, with innovative artistic and educational experiences meant to draw people into the improvisatory process.
Admission to the concert and Q&A is $22 for adults and $17 for students and senior citizens.
To purchase tickets, contact the Wentz Box Office at (630) 637-SHOW (7469) or go online to www.northcentralcollege.edu/show.
Story submitted by Jack Mouse, Assistant Professor of Music & Coordinator of Jazz Studies, North Central College.
