About this Event
David Berends (keyboards) and Michael Mironov (percussion) are Two Bald Wizards. Recording and performing without a safety net, together they create original spontaneous compositions incorporating elements of world, jazz, rock, funk, classical, ambient and avant-garde music into their unique and highly virtuosic conjurings.
Gross proceeds from this performance will be split 50/50, with half going to the NJ Animal Shelter Happy Paws Rescue, Inc (South Plainfield, NJ), specializing in saving dogs on death row and animals in high-K*ll shelters, and half going to American Bird Conservancy, an international nonprofit dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas . There is a suggested cover of $15 per person.
The Sophia Fahs Theater is a beautiful carpeted performance space (ergo no food or drink allowed, please). With tiered seating and an ample stage, there's not a bad seat in the house. To ensure an optimally enjoyable experience for all attendees, please RSVP for this event.
CONTACT: [email protected]
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:
Since the age of four when he first heard the grannies in Sunday school plunking out hymns on the spinet, composer/keyboardist David Berends has been fascinated by the harmonies, melodies and structures of this mystical aural artform we call music. Classically trained in piano at Peabody Conservatory and Westminster Choir College and in music theory at UPenn and Princeton, his informal training came though countless gigs, jams and recording sessions with artists ranging from guitarist Stanley Jordan to Rock’n’Roll pioneer Chuck Berry to prog rockers Tank and New Wave band The Name. Over the years, Berends also released four CDs of his original piano compositions on classical labels Albany Records and I Virtuosi Records while also briefly leading a straight-ahead jazz piano trio performing many of his original charts. Recently much of his musical focus has been on recording and performing with numerous jazz, fusion, and electronica musicians throughout the Northeast, including guitarist Karl Fury, keyboardist Neil Alexander, the late, great Tony “TNT” Jones [bass] and legendary Philly drummer G. Calvin Weston. In early 2022, Berends began informal improvisation sessions with World percussionist extraordinaire Michael Mironov, a project which serendipitously transmuted into Two Bald Wizards. And today, the journey continues.
Michael Mironov’s musical journey has been a path of love for hand percussion and of love to play and share these ethnic instruments with all who appreciate them as different from the normal "Traditional Drum Kit". He began as a teenager, studying jazz and rock drumming, but stopped to pursue basketball at the high school and collegiate levels. He picked up the sticks again after college only to discover, as he puts it, that he “sucked”. Hearing Alla Rhaka perform with Ravi Shankar at Carnegie Hall in 1982 was a watershed moment for Mironov, and soon thereafter he began serious percussion study under master percussionist Richard Graham. He and fellow Graham students Chuck Carpenter and Dorothea then formed the band Adabata, playing numerous gigs locally including as part of the New Brunswick Jazz Loft and with live performances on WRSU-FM radio. Over the years Mironov has also accompanied tap-guitar virtuoso Greg Merkle and celebrated folk singer Tina Maschi both live and on record. Other notable collaborators, both live and on record, include two-hand jazz guitar master Tom Yermack, drummer Bob Steeler (Hot Tuna), bassist Tom Mcmillan, prog rockers Mastermind, Chris and Art Dorety (Forest View Music, The Cosmic Alloy), and alt-rock band Calla Bere and the Attitude. He has also played and made unreleased recordings with Steve Mironov, Juan Garcés, Chuck Carpenter, Ted Klett, Joe O’Toole, and his late dear friend, guitarist Richard Cann. Wizard Mironov performs with Lambertville-based poet and social activist Angelo John Lewis in an ongoing venture, and has often presented his diverse collection of hand percussion instruments and playing styles at local school assemblies in a loving act of community outreach.
Wizards Mironov and Berends first met at the Rock Brook Music Atelier Winter Solstice Jam in 2020—often an exercise in cat-herding—and then played again at The Jam in 2021, at which point they decided to try a one-on-one jam at the atelier. Their duo jams began in early 2022 and after a few sessions it was clear that there was some special chemistry in the duo. Multitrack recording replaced room microphones by Jam #3, and an eclectic collection of tracks from their subsequent eight sessions was released in the album First Offering in November 2023. A second album, Levitations, was released early the following year. Several more albums are presently "in the can", slated to be released in 2026. Currently both of their albums are available for streaming and download at twobaldwizards.bandcamp.com. Also, live videos from their first Fahs Auditorium performance in December, 2023 can be found on their YouTube channel, youtube.com/@twobaldwizards.
Wizard Mironov writes, “I am hoping our friendship and musical collaboration can go on for the rest of our journey on this planet, before I am turned into compost, my ashes sprinkled on my organic garden by my family, and I come back up as a fresh vegetable of some sort.... Then my family can eat me and the cycle will continue.....” Wizard Berends wholeheartedly agrees.
ABOUT OUR CHARITIES:
American Bird Conservancy ()
Mission Statement: “Since 1994, American Bird Conservancy has stayed true to our mission: to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Since that time, we’ve never lost sight of our north star guiding us toward conservation results for birds. Together with our partners, we have developed proven strategies to address some of the gravest threats facing birds while protecting 1.1 million acres of habitat across a network of more than 100 reserves in 15 countries, benefiting 3,000 bird species — 30 percent of the world’s total. We’ve also improved conservation management across more than 9 million acres of habitat in the U.S., working with the Migratory Bird Joint Ventures. We do what we do because birds inspire us – and because it’s the right thing to do.”
Happy Paws Rescue Inc. ()
Mission Statement: “Happy Paws Rescue Inc. is a New Jersey non-profit corporation dedicated to animal rescue and adoption. We specialize in the rescue of dogs and cats from high-K*ll shelters where the prospect of permanent placement is unlikely. We also serve as an educational resource for the public regarding the prevention of cruelty to animals, in addition to spay and neuter awareness to reduce the population of homeless and stray dogs & cats. By working with committed volunteers and veterinarians, we provide all dogs and cats in our care with medical attention and a safe haven prior to placement in their permanent, loving homes.”
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton: Sophia Fahs Theatre, 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, United States
USD 0.00
