Misericordia University Presents “Songs for My Son”

 

DALLAS TWP., Pa. – Misericordia University and the Soyka Fund for the Humanities is presenting the free concert, “Songs for My Son,’’ with trumpeter and Soyka Artist-in Residence John Maurer and pianist Nate Petley on Friday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. in Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall.

 

The concert tour is part of the musical artists’ debut album, “Songs for My Son.” Released in 2018, the 14-song jazz album features works in the contemporary-classical jazz idiom.

 

Maurer is an award-winning trumpet and flugelhorn artist and educator, who, in addition to his role at Misericordia, serves as the teaching artist at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and head of the brass and woodwind studio at the Black Bear Conservatory of Music. He has performed throughout the country and in Canada, and has appeared as a soloist for the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and the Curtis Institute of Music. He was also a semi-finalist for the National Trumpet Competition. More information about the musician is available on his website at trumpetjm.com

 

Musical educators and musicians, alike, agree that Maurer is a special musical performer. He is an “exhilarating, very versatile trumpet performer and educator,’’ said Jose Sibaja, the lead trumpet player of the Boston Brass.

 

Dr. Langston J. Fitzgerald, III, former of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and professor of trumpet at Pennsylvania State University, adds, “He loves music to such a high degree that he always seems to approach every piece or composition with the utmost musicality and expressiveness,’’ he said in a testimonial. “… Extremely talented and awesome player.”

Petley is an accomplished pianist, multi-instrumentalist and accompanist, who owns Creative Pursuits Studio in Lancaster where he provides private lessons.

 

The “Songs for My Son’’ presentation is the inaugural concert in the Back Mountain Jazz Series at Misericordia University. The same duo will present a concert during the spring semester at a date and time to be determined.

 

For more information about Misericordia University, please call (570) 674-6400 or visit www.misericordia.edu. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County’s first four-year college and offers 56 academic programs on the graduate and undergraduate levels in full- and part-time formats. Misericordia University ranks in the top tier of the Best Regional Universities – North category of U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 edition of Best Colleges. The Princeton Review recognizes MU as a 2019 Best Northeastern College and Money Magazine includes Misericordia in its 2018-19 “Best Colleges” list.

 

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