HMC Presents: Harold Danko Trio

Hamilton Music Collective Presents:

Harold Danko - Piano

Terry Clarke - Drums

Pat Collins - Bass

Series Tickets on sale Friday August 22 2025 9:00am

Individual Tickets on sale Friday September 5 2025 9:00am

Tickets: $45 / $25 (student)

Purchase a Series Ticket and save 15% on each show here.

Check out the rest of the fall series here.

Please choose your seats at check out!

Doors at 7:00PM, show at 8:00PM (two sets).

About Harold Danko

A 30-album discography and long-term associations with legendary jazz artists not to mention countless recording sessions and worldwide tours, describe only a fraction of what pianist Harold Danko brings to the table. In a career spanning more than a half century Harold has established himself internationally as a distinguished pianist, composer, and band leader fortified by a most impressive resume.

Danko holds Professor Emeritus status at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he chaired the jazz studies program for eleven years but is probably best known for his long-term associations with jazz luminaries including Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Lee Konitz, and Woody Herman. During that time his reputation as a jazz educator grew as he served on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, New School/Mannes, and Hartt College before accepting the Eastman appointment in 1998.

Beginning piano studies at the age of five, Harold became serious about pursuing a career in jazz at fifteen when he commenced studies with Gene Rush in Youngstown, Ohio. After graduation from Youngstown State University and a stint in the Army band, Harold landed the piano chair in Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd, which launched his career as a much sought after jazz musician. He has performed at major jazz venues throughout the world as well as on recordings, television, and video. As a band leader he has been featured in Lincoln Center’s “Meet the Artist” series, Washington (DC) Performing Arts Society series at J.F.K. Center, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, and numerous jazz festivals both in the USA and abroad. In 1995 he was awarded an NEA Fellowship to perform his own works in a series of concerts in New York City. Throughout the 90s Harold performed with and composed for his own quartet with Rich Perry (tenor saxophone), Scott Colley (bass) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums) and more recently a trio with Hirshfield and Michael Formanek or Jay Anderson (bass) with whom he recorded a series of highly acclaimed CDs on the SteepleChase label. Since 1980 he has earned ASCAP awards yearly for “the unique prestige value of [his] catalogue of original compositions.”

At the Eastman School of Music he developed the Jazz Performance Workshop curriculum and chaired the Jazz and Contemporary Media department, taught jazz piano, theory, and history, and led the Eastman Jazz Trio and Quartet. Harold’s featured column “Solo Piano” appeared in Keyboard Magazine for more than five years, and his keyboard improvisation method "The Illustrated Keyboard Series" is a widely regarded reference, in addition to his educational video "Jazz Keyboard Techniques", available in Brazil.

His latest CDs, released over the last three years on the SteepleChase label, “Spring Garden”, “Rite Notes”, and “Trillium” are all inspired by Igor Stravinsky.

“These recordings document important steps in my continuing exploration of Stravinsky’s music for purposes of composition and improvisation – a harvest growing directly from the Rite of Spring and other related works. In live performances the eighteen pieces developed from my studies serve as springboards for further investigation and improvisation. My post-production work on the recordings sparked greater interest in finding even more content to draw on from Stravinsky’s scores, and the pieces have evolved into a kind of suite for solo piano incorporating details that had to be left out of the recordings. I premiered an abbreviated version in 2020 at my Leap Year concert on February 29 in East Rochester and longer versions later at the Bop Shop and Rochester International Jazz Festival.”

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Join Hamilton Music Collective for our fall jazz concert series, showcasing top Canadian and international musicians in jazz, blues, and improvised music since 2014. Step into our cozy jazz lounge at 141 Park Street, featuring a top notch sound system (brand new in 2020), wine selections, and an attentive audience. It all comes together in the perfect venue to hear world-class jazz in downtown Hamilton!

All proceeds from ticket sales support the An Instrument For Every Child (AIFEC) program.

For more information about the Hamilton Music Collective and An Instrument For Every Child visit: hamiltonmusiccollective.ca

Parking is available in the parking lots. Read more here: https://www.thegasworks.ca/parking/

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Gasworks, 141 Park St N, Hamilton, Canada