Peggy Stern

Capital City Voices at Blues Alley

Peggy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:25:56 +0000

Blues Alley – December 12, 2012, 8 & 10 pm

Featured Artists: Capital City Voices – Jazz Choir

Guest musicians: Peggy Stern, Jeff Antoniuk, Amy Shook, and Frank Russo

Capital City Voices debuted in a 2011 sellout concert and have been going strong ever since. Scores of well-trained singers provide an eclectic and dramatic listening experience for jazz lovers. Programs feature beloved standards and new works by acclaimed composer Peggy Stern. Top call musicians such as Jeff Antoniuk, bassist Amy Shook and drummer Frank Russo help the choir create a magical and masterful performance.

As a pianist Stern toured much of the world, playing with myriad jazz greats. Her compositions exhibit a deep knowledge of world music. She attended Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, played with many New York jazz masters, then expanded her sound to encompass Brazilian, African, Irish and Cuban influences. “Everything she writes wants to dance,” said Ken Dais of Jazziz.

The Blues Alley show features a version of Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” incorporating several Christmas carols! Holiday favorites such as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” are sure to please.

Fall in DC

Peggy — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:47:19 +0000

Well, things are chugging right along here in DC, my second season in the Capitol.Capital City Voices has expanded to two full jazz choruses, and we will be performing (with Amy Shook, Frank Russo, and co-director Jeff Antoniuk) on December 12th at Blues Alley. The Wall Street Jazz Festival was spectacular this year (Sep 1,2), very inspired and inspiring. Nov. 2-6 doing a mini tour with Bassist Rich Syracuse in IOWA (first time there); we’ll see what we can do about that caucus (!).

Capital City Voices at Holy Trinity Bowie

Peggy — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:24:46 +0000

Well, we had our 3rd and final concert on Sunday afternoon, and it was really sweet; the choir seems at ease with the music now (just in time to start a new season/new repertoire), and the venue was stupendous. What a great acoustic! And the audience was large and appreciative, the reception was fun too. Nice gig…This Friday RiverJazz+BlueBelles is at BEAHIVE in Kingston, our annual fundraiser for Wall Street Jazz festival, and we are featuring Jay Clayton and special guests – it should be a lot of fun…then after that, for me – a rest! ( for a minute)

Capital City Voices

Peggy — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:43:11 +0000

Concert at Christ Church

We just held our debut concert at Christ Church on Capitol Hill, DC. What a lovely concert! The singers and audience had such a good time; I am feeling like I’m making a nice contribution to the community, in the only way I know – the music. Anyway, Al Wolcott (from River Jazz, Kingston, NY) came down to join the baritones, and Yeva Avakyan flew in from Bangladesh to make the concert. It’s a very nice beginning for this group.

After the choir sang "Mila"

June 11, 2011

Just Played the Kennedy!

Peggy — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:55:31 +0000

Sue Terry and I played the Kennedy Center (fortress of the Arts!) a couple of days ago, and what fun, and what an honor! Seriously, the venue, and staff were beautiful, gracious, professional, and low-key. No emergencies, pretty mellow. Sue and I were treated like – well, like Artists, imagine that! Musically, it was pretty interesting, because we are a duo, and chose to play acoustically. Everything else in the program had amps and mikes, and I heard the contrast was most interesting! The other thing that stood out, at least on our program, was that we played all original music, with the exception of the combined tune Weaver of Dreams/There Will Never Be Another You, and our tribute to the late great Billy Taylor – his tune, Picture This… other than those, we did what we do, and played outside the box, with our good chemistry and musicianship, we had a ball, if I do say so myself!

Met Michel Legrand

Peggy — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:33:23 +0000

He played at Blues Alley a few weeks ago, and some members of Capital City Voices ( my DC jazz chorus) went with me to hear him. I met him and his lovely wife between sets, and told him we are singing “You Must Believe in Spring”, and his first comment was: Wow! That’s really weird, how do you arrange a tune like that for chorus?! So I promised to send him a copy (hardcopy, he doesn’t do internet online stuff), and then he proceeded to play the tune in the next set, very gracious person, and charming (charmant!)

Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival

Peggy — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:46:42 +0000

Peggy Stern with “Sweet” Sue Terry performing at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on Saturday, May 21^st.

March 22, 2011 – a new look!

Peggy — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:55:21 +0000

I’m excited about this new website; very modern and tech-y…I will be posting my music for download, and filling in details of my musical life these days. As always, you can buy my CDs at CDBaby for a very reasonable price, and also download individual songs at itunes. I won’t tweet or blog (ah, the english language…), but I will tell stories here. Stay tuned!

This just in! Sue Terry and I (Sweet Sue) will be playing Kennedy Center May 21st, at 7 PM, as part of the venerable Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. I will post more later.