Tish Oney's Music Blog

...is today! Live and taped concerts streamed from Congo Square, New Orleans are available to watch here . Congo Square is the birthplace of jazz where a diversity of styles came together near the turn of the twentieth century and amalgamated into the art form we currently know as jazz, America's indigenous classical music. This special day is being celebrated worldwide by concerts and events honoring this beloved music. Today in New Orleans a star-studded lineup of artists will be featured throughout the day in a monumental jazz festival the world can watch online. Don't miss your chance to participate by sharing the link above and enjoying the music! Thank you for your ongoing support of this magnificent art form!

I am pleased to be joining acclaimed pianist Michael Royal for my next tour performance May 6 at 2pm at The Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota, FL. Michael is a dynamite musician who has built quite a resume of performing experience. I am excited to explore Peggy Lee's music with him for this one-afternoon-only matinee! The Peggy Lee Project is a celebration of the songwriting talents of the late pop/jazz diva, Peggy Lee. While Lee was well-known for countless major hits including "Fever," "Is That All There Is?" and "Big Spender," she also contributed 270 original songs to the Great American Songbook, collaborating with songwriting giants Duke Ellington, Johnny Mandel, Harold Arlen, Victor Young, Quincy Jones and Sonny Burke, among many others. I am proud to announce that this production is the only Peggy Lee tribute concert in the world endorsed by The Peggy Lee Foundation, Peggy Lee Enterprises, Peggy Lee Associates and the family of...

I love working with exemplary musicians. There is nothing like good collaboration to inspire me to reach new artistic heights! Last week I had the privilege of working with my baroque trio (soprano, flute and organ, featuring Dr. Rik Noyce on flute and Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ Conservator Philip Smith on organ) in the opening concert for the fourth annual Redondo Beach Baroque Festival. Collaboration in the baroque style (as well as in jazz) involves trusting one's fellow musicians and embarking on a journey together during which ideas meld and mesh, folding over one another and layering into a fabric of aural experience that is unique upon each successive performance. This we call being "in the moment" or "in the zone." Listening and responding to the other two performers becomes a delightful dance in real time involving improvisation, rebalancing and adjustment as each part finds its way among the others in expressive freedom. Three intertwining lin...

Next on my calendar of performance dates will be a baroque recital of soprano arias composed by J.S. Bach. This concert will be offered as part of the Riviera United Methodist Church Baroque Festival on Friday, February 24 at 7:30 pm at Riviera UMC in Redondo Beach, CA. The performance features the wonderful Dr. Rik Noyce on flute and Philip A. Smith on a newly refurbished organ. Entitled "A Lenten Journey With J.S. Bach" my trio will guide the audience through the Bible stories of Holy Week as exemplified through the incomparable music of a baroque master composer. Come and join us for a contemplative and beautiful journey of faith and love, pain and redemption.

Hello readers! This week I open a new doubleheader show in two cities--the show is called "Tish Oney--The Peggy Lee Project/Tish Oney's Swingin' Christmas." This pairing came about because a couple of venues could not decide between the two shows and were looking for something for the Christmas season... so we opted to combine them with a short intermission in between. The doubleheader will be presented Friday, December 2 at Fryeburg Academy (Fryeburg, ME) and Saturday, December 3 at Mt. Lebanon High School (Pittsburgh, PA). Guitarist John Chiodini will join me for both shows. Bassist Nick Walker and drummer Greg Evans will meet John and myself in Pittsburgh to play as a quartet for the second show. When undertaking the writing of a new show I am attentive to two sets of criteria: my interests in performing certain repertoire as well as the audience's interests in hearing something familiar balanced with something new. The manner of arranging varies from s...

This week begins an Artist-in-Residence stint at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. The big event for the week will be my concert with the Furman University Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Matt Olson. We'll be collaborating for my touring big band show, "Tish Oney's Big Band Excursion" and the Furman Jazz students will open Friday's show with music performed by a number of small jazz combos and instrumental works for the entire 18-piece jazz orchestra. As the evening unfolds, listeners will be treated to a program of wonderful jazz works I've compiled by award-winning big band arrangers including Grammy-winner Chris Walden and Hall-of-Famer Joe Riposo. This show begins Friday, November 4 at 8pm in the Daniel Music Building's Recital Hall on the Furman University campus. Admission is $3 for students and $5 general and the public is heartily invited! Earlier in the day Friday I will be teaching a master class for singers in an in...

Greetings from gorgeous Ithaca, NY! I am thrilled to be back at my alma mater as their 2011-12 Robert G. Boehmler Visiting Artist presenting two concerts on the main stage (in Ford Hall Auditorium) Thursday, 9/29 and Friday, 9/30. In addition to these public performances, throughout this week I have been providing master classes, jazz workshops, music history and songwriting lectures and private coaching sessions for students. I am also delighted to reunite with some wonderful faculty friends, colleagues and mentors who have shared music with me over the years. IC is a phenomenal place to develop as a musician--the faculty are truly top-notch and the opportunities for excelling in a spirit of healthy competition are second to none. This week has been a gift and I feel deeply honored to have been selected as this year's recipient of the Boehmler Artist Residency grant. This week's concerts are free and open to the public due to this generous donor, so please take that shor...