Songs of the Season

Experience moments of peace and tranquility with improvisational arrangements of seasonal music, performed by local musicians and curated by acclaimed saxophonist and Grace Farms Music Director Marcus G. Miller.

Imagine the Sanctuary has transformed into your family’s living room. And imagine the performers are your cousins, who happen to be fantastic musicians, joyfully playing seasonal music and songs of togetherness. As they play, they’ll share stories about lessons they’ve learned this year, the inner workings of their craft, and their lives as professional musicians. We hope that their art and their experience will serve as opportunities to explore what this season means for you.

For full schedule of musicians and bios, please click here.

Our Saturday, December 3 program will feature The Nu Haven Kapelye Klezmer Trio, a subgroup of Southern New England’s largest, sassiest, and saxiest Klezmer ensemble. Featuring a blend of big band and Klezmer traditions, the Kapelye plays joyous and foot-tapping arrangements of Klezmer and Yiddish music from Eastern Europe and other locales.

This afternoon’s edition of the Nu Haven Kapelye Klezmer Trio features Dana Astmann on accordion, Will Bartlett on clarinet, and David Chevan on bass.

Dana Astmann is a musical director and pianist who has worked with A Broken Umbrella Theatre, New Haven Theater Company, Yale Cabaret, and Jerusalem Musical Theater Company.

Will Bartlett has over twenty-five years experience as a professional musician and music educator. He has performed with Frank Foster, Lee Konitz, Slide Hampton and Roswell Rudd among others. He is a founding member of the Afro-Semitic Experience and leads his own group, Joy Spring as well as the Will Bartlett Ensemble.

Dr. David Chevan splits his time between teaching, composing, arranging, and performing music professionally. As a composer, Chevan explores the intersection between vernacular cultural music practice and jazz. His compositions and arrangements include music for the Afro-Semitic Experience, a group that merges Jewish and African American musical traditions, the Nu Haven Kapelye, and writing for voice. With the Afro-Semitic Experience he has brought people together to experience the nexus of music, spirituality, and culture in worship spaces, clubs, colleges and at jazz festivals across the United States. He is proud to have served on the board of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation for over 25 years.