Michael Feinstein and Jane Monheit Perform Great American Standards at the Kimmel Center Friday, November 5, 2004
October 10, 2004
Michael Feinstein, one of the premiere interpreters of American popular song, has been a household name since the success of his 1988 one-man Broadway show, Isn’t It Romantic. He is nationally recognized for his commitment to the American popular song, both celebrating its art and preserving its legacy for the next generation.
In 2003, Feinstein received his fourth Grammy Award nomination for Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. Last year, The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a 2-disc compilation drawn from 14 albums spanning the years 1987 to 1996, featuring old favorites and previously unreleased tracks was released.
Feinstein started playing piano by ear when he was five. As a teenager, he played at weddings and parties in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating from high school, he worked in local piano lounges for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he was 20. Through the widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant, he was introduced to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. He became his assistant for six years, granting him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, which he has since performed and recorded. Gershwin’s influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein has not only evolved into a captivating performer, composer and arranger of his own original music, but has also become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren.
Jane Monheit, whose new CD, Taking a Chance on Lov has reached number one on the Billboard Jazz chart, is one of today’s hottest jazz singers and an established star at age 26. Her fourth solo recording features classic songs known today as The Great American Songbook and includes "Honeysuckle Rose" as well as the Oscar-winning standard "Over the Rainbow" which she performs in concert and is heard on the soundtrack of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
Time Magazine hailed Monheit as the singer "who has, in a word, everything" and she has recently performed on TV’s Conan O’Brien, CNN Headline News, Access Hollywood and will soon guest on Good Morning America. Ever since wowing the judges at the 1998 Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington, D.C.—when she was only 20—Monheit has emerged as one of the premiere jazz talents of her generation. The daughter of a musical family from Long Island, she polished her skills and honed her instincts with jazz studies at New York’s Manhattan School of Music.
Tickets for the November 5 performance by Michael Feinstein and Jane Monheit are $33, $40, $55, $65 & $75 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets will be available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. $10 tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning at 5:30 p.m. for evening performances and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one per person.
Sponsors of the 2004-2005 Kimmel Center Presents season include Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Bank of America, Sovereign Bank, Wachovia Foundation, The American Express Company, Verizon Foundation, Bucks County Coffee and SEPTA, the Commuter's Choice. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming.
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