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Join us for an afternoon of a vocal and piano jazz featuring Sunny Wilkinson and Ron Newman on Sunday, October 25th at the historic South Haven Scott Club.This concert is free and open to all!
RSVP by October 23rd (required) to: [email protected]
Livestream: Foundry Hall Facebook page
The child of a Methodist minister, Sunny Wilkinson grew up singing in church and around the piano in four-part harmony with her family. She earned her degree in Choral Education from Arizona State University, and during that time delved into diverse styles of music, singing the operatic roles of Marcellina in the Marriage of Figaro, the Wicked Witch in Hansel and Gretel, as well as the role of Winnifred in the musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress. She also played trombone and sang in the ASU jazz band. Weekend nights, she played and sang in a jazz fusion band called Goldmine.
In 1989, Sunny recorded her debut CD, Alegria, for Hibrite records of Japan, which was produced by Stix Hooper, the drummer for the Jazz Crusaders. Alegria featured such stellar players as John Patitucci and Ernie Watts. Swing Journal heralded its arrival on the charts at number five in Japan. In 1992, Sunny recorded a live version of Round Midnight, with full orchestra, for Honda of Japan. Wilkinson’s self titled release for Positive Music Records (1993) highlighted her love of jazz, fusion and pop, and thrust her into a nonstop touring schedule of jazz festivals, concerts and club gigs.
In 1993, Sunny moved to Okemos, Michigan to be with her new husband, Dr. Ron Newman, who was head of the Jazz Studies Area at Michigan State University. Since that time, they have been in partnership, playing music, writing tunes, and producing CDs, not to mention raising their wonderful family.
She led the Woman’s Caucus for the International Association of Jazz Educators and launched “Sisters In Jazz” a mentoring program for young women, which was taken to an international level through IAJE.
In 1998, Sunny released her third CD, High Wire, a big band recording featuring arrangements by husband Ron Newman, and a close friend from ASU days, Charlie Argersinger. Sunny’s fourth release, A Gentle Time, When Sunny Meets Tom, is a duo collaboration with the legendary LA pianist Tom Garvin.
Over the years, Sunny has sung with The Count Basie Band, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Mark Murphy, Milt Hinton, Kenny Wheeler, Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Ron Carter, Curtis Fuller, Edgar Winter, and Gene Bertoncini, among others. A busy travel schedule has her presenting clinics and performances at universities and jazz festivals, as well as jazz clubs, across the United States.
Ronald Newman retired as Professor of Music Theory in 2019. He joined the MSU faculty in 1979. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from North Texas State University and a Master of Music and Ph.D. in Music Composition from MSU. After graduation in 1979, he immediately joined the MSU faculty as the first Director of Jazz Studies, a position he held until 1995 when he joined the Music Theory Area of MSU. He has served as instructor of jazz improvisation, arranging, pedagogy, and history, and is past president of the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Jazz Educators. Newman is also a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Commissioning Consortium Award. As a pianist, he has been an active performer and composer in jazz and classical music, creating music especially with his wife, jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson.
This concert is presented in collaboration with Foundry Hall and is supported in part by Funded in part by Low Family Foundation, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Event venue
South Haven Scott Club, 652 Phoenix St, South Haven, MI 49090-2504, United States
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