Warmth of Windham Hill Musicians Wards Off Midwinter Chill Jan. 21
December 23, 2005
The Windham Hill Winter Solstice Tour, which visits Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, joins three gifted instrumentalists–pianist/violinist Barbara Higbie, pianist Liz Story and electric violinist Tracy Silverman–in an evening of songs celebrating the simple pleasures of the season.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are on sale now at $27 for an adult; $10 for a University Park student; and $19 for a person 18 and younger. For tickets and information, visit www.cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays resuming Jan. 3; Penn State Tickets Downtown, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays resuming Jan. 3; and HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays resuming Jan. 9.
Founded a quarter century ago, the Windham Hill label quickly became synonymous with high-quality recordings of instrumental music. The label's founders incorporated instrumental folk, classical and jazz into a fusion now known as new age. Each album in the popular Winter Solstice series includes works by a range of artists.
Higbie is a pianist, composer, singer-songwriter and fiddle player whose musical compositions combine elements of folk, jazz, classical, African, Brazilian and Celtic traditions. In 1983, Higbie and Teresa Trull released Unexpected, named one of the 10 best albums of the year by the Boston Globe. During most of the 1980s, Higbie was pianist with Montreux, an acoustic group.
The Washington Post named Signs of Life, Higbie's debut as a solo singer-songwriter, one of the 10 best recordings of 1990. Playtime, a second duo effort with Trull, came out in 1998. She released Variations on a Happy Ending, a collection of original solo piano works, in 2000.
Story studied piano at the Juilliard School and enrolled at Hunter College, both in New York City. But when she heard jazz piano great Bill Evans at a Manhattan club, she decided to abandon academic training in favor of becoming a jazz pianist.
Her impressionistic piano compositions are a finely crafted homage to both her classical and jazz roots. Her albums include Solid Colors (1983), Unaccountable Effect (1986), My Foolish Heart (1992), The Gift (1994), Liz Story (1996) and 17 Seconds to Anywhere (1998).
Silverman also studied at Juilliard. While there, he performed as a member of the experimental group Stradivarius. National recognition came with his four years as the first violinist of Turtle Island String Quartet, an American music fusion group. He has performed and recorded with major figures in the realms of rock, pop, new age and jazz, and has produced and appeared on many Windham Hill releases. Trip to the Sun, his 1999 release, is a cult classic that Billboard called "the most adventurous Windham Hill album ever."
Hoag's Catering/Celebrations sponsors the performance. Lite 94.5 FM is the media sponsor. Artistic Viewpoints, sponsored by the Center for the Performing Arts Community Advisory Council, provides insight from a visiting artist and is offered free to interested ticket holders in the Eisenhower Auditorium Conference Room one hour before the performance.
Contact: Laura Sullivan
(814) 863-6379