Nicholas Walker

I'll be playing my piece, Paris Skies, with Lizzy Simkin this FRIDAY, JUNE 6 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall as part of the New Directions Cello Festival Concert
Please join us!

The IC PIP Ensemble will be performing tonight at 7:00 pm at Ithaca College in the Hockett Family Recital Hall.

The PIP Ensemble features: Aimee Shorten, traverso/recorder; Stephen Pysnik, recorder/corneto; Andrew Bergevin, Maeve O'Hara, violin: Tim Ball, violin/viola, Aara Edwards, viola, Aaron Gainer, lute; Mary Holzhauer, harpsichord; Nicholas Walker, viola da gamba

And also the IC Opera Workshop: Kristen Gobetz, Erin Winker, sopranos; Thomas Furey, Omar Najmi , tenors; Thomas Lehman, Garry McLinn, baritones; Nicole Guberman, Allison Macri,Sarah Vincelett,cast

We'll be playing: Sonata Decima Quinta a 4 (1621) Dario Castello (c. 1590 – c. 1630)

Canzon Vigesimaprima à 5. Canto Alto Tenore Basso Girolamo Frescobaldi
Canzona Prima à 4. Canto Alto Tenore Basso (1608) (1583 – 1643)

Recercada Segunda sobre passamezzo Moderno (1553) Diego Ortiz (1510 – 1570)

Fantasia No. 6 Orlando De Lasso (c. 1531 – 1594)

Danserye Deutsche Tanze & Reigen Tielmann Susato
(from Het derde musyck boexken, 1551) (1501 – 1561)

Concert #2, from Les Concerts Royaux (1714,15) Francois Couperin (1668 – 1733)

Cantata no. 211, Kaffee Kantata (c. 1733) J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

The IC PIP Ensemble will be performing tonight and Thursday in Ithaca. The Period Instrument Performance Ensemble will be appearing tonight at 7:30 pm at St. Luke Lutheran, (109 Oak Ave in Collegetown, just uphill of Collegetown branch of Collegetown Bagels), and on Thursday at 7:00 pm at Ithaca College in the Hockett Family Recital Hall.

The PIP Ensemble features: Aimee Shorten, traverso/recorder; Stephen Pysnik, recorder/corneto; Andrew Bergevin, Maeve O'Hara, violin: Tim Ball, violin/viola, Aara Edwards, viola, Aaron Gainer, lute; Mary Holzhauer, harpsichord; Nicholas Walker, viola da gamba

And also the IC Opera Workshop: Kristen Gobetz, Erin Winker, sopranos; Thomas Furey, Omar Najmi , tenors; Thomas Lehman, Garry McLinn, baritones; Nicole Guberman, Allison Macri,Sarah Vincelett,cast

We'll be playing: Sonata Decima Quinta a 4 (1621) Dario Castello (c. 1590 – c. 1630)

Canzon Vigesimaprima à 5. Canto Alto Tenore Basso Girolamo Frescobaldi
Canzona Prima à 4. Canto Alto Tenore Basso (1608) (1583 – 1643)

Recercada Segunda sobre passamezzo Moderno (1553) Diego Ortiz (1510 – 1570)

Fantasia No. 6 Orlando De Lasso (c. 1531 – 1594)

Danserye Deutsche Tanze & Reigen Tielmann Susato
(from Het derde musyck boexken, 1551) (1501 – 1561)

Concert #2, from Les Concerts Royaux (1714,15) Francois Couperin (1668 – 1733)

Cantata no. 211, Kaffee Kantata (c. 1733) J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Check out this amazing editorial piece for CouterPunch about the gig with Rotondi, Stetch and Killian last week! The author, David Yearsley, is a professor of musicology at Cornell, one of the top early keybord experts in the world, but more importantly . . . he's . . . my neighbor! http://www.counterpunch.org/yearsley04192008.html

I'll be playing with NYC Trumpeter Jim Rotondi this Sunday at the Carriage House in Ithaca.

Jim Rotondi, trumpet
John Stetch, piano
Nicholas Walker, bass
Tom Killian, drums

Sunday April 13, 2008, 8:00 pm
Supper Club at the Hayloft
Carriage House Café
305 Stewart Ave.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-645-0152

Tickets for the concert only $12.00

Special "eats" featuring an upper-Midwest style menu Reservations taken between 6:15 and 6:45. Show Starts at 8:00 pm with ala carte desserts and beverages $47.00/person (includes dinner and show price) Available at the Carriage House Café and Ticket Center at Clinton House 116 N. Cayuga St. (corner of Seneca St.) Ithaca, NY 14850 Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-5:30pm (closed Sat 2-3), Sun 12-5pm

Welcome to Ithaca's real Jazz club at Ithaca's top-rated restaurant.
Trumpeter Jim Rotondi began his musical studies at a very early age. His mother, a piano teacher, encouraged Jim to begin playing the piano at age eight. He took up the trumpet at age twelve. In 1980 Jim graduated from Butte High School in Butte, Montana. He then attended North Texas State University, where he graduated with a degree in trumpet performance. While in Texas, Jim was awarded first place in the International Trumpet Guild's jazz trumpet competition for the year 1984. After college Jim began recording and touring internationally with the Ray Charles Orchestra. Immediately following this he commenced a six year tenure with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. During this time Jim also became a member of organist Charles Earland's quintet. He currently tours with his own group, as well as with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Grammy-winner Toshiko Akiyoshi and the collective known as One For All, which features a front line of Eric Alexander and Steve Davis.
Jim's extensive recording experience most recently includes the release of his fifth date as a leader, titled "Destination Up", for the Sharp Nine label following the successful release of four CDs on the Criss Cross Jazz label. He can also be heard on several of Charles Earland's Highnote Records releases, alongside saxophonist Eric Alexander, with whom Jim made his recording debut on Eric's Delmark release "Straight Up". Other recordings include saxophonist George Coleman's Octet, featuring Harold Mabern, as well as drummer Ray Appleton's Sextet, which features Slide Hampton, Charles McPherson, and John Hicks. Jim is also a member of the aforementioned One For All, whose Sharp Nine Records releases "Too Soon To Tell" and "Optimism" received critical acclaim from Cadence, Jazz Times, and The Detroit Free Press.

Please join me for a special concert with Tango de Cámara, featuring Tango ledgend, Daniel Binelli (bandoneon), and fellow Ithaca College professors, Steven Mauk (saxophone), Pablo Cohen (guitar)
Ford Hall, ithaca College
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
8 p.m. FREE

Bandoneon player extraordinaire and tango composing legend Daniel Binelli headlines this special concert that winds through the sonic camouflages and counterpoints of Latin American music. Binelli will play in the quartet Tango de Cámara with Ithaca College School of Music faculty members Pablo Cohen (guitar), Steven Mauk (saxophone) and Nicholas Walker (bass).

Daniel Binelli is one of the world’s greatest virtuosos of the bandoneon. He has played bandoneon with major traditional tango orchestras as well as being a member of Astor Piazzolla’s last septet. With many world wide tours as member of the Pugliese and Piazzolla orchestras, Mr Binelli also directed some of the most important tango sows in the US and Europe. As a soloist, Binelli is also widely acclaimed as the foremost exponent and torchbearer of the music of tango legend Astor Piazzolla. He featured with orchestras in Asia, Europe and Latin America. This past seasson he performed his own compositions as well as Piazzolla’s as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco, Huston, Dallas, Utah, Buffalo and Binghamton orchestras.

Tango is closely identified with an instrument not commonly found in classical chamber music ensembles or orchestras: the bandoneon. A button squeezebox instrument developed in Germany and constructed of wood, metal, leather and mother of pearl, the bandoneon is a formidably difficult instrument to play. Its sonorities define tango. The music and the dramatic performances of Daniel Binelli with Tango de Camara members Mauk, Walker and Cohen are a good example of that.

Francois Rabbath will be playing a recital at Stony Brook University in Long Island this Sunday March 2nd at 8:00 pm in the Staller Center Concert Hall (details). He'll also be at David Gage's shop in Manhattan for a workshop on Monday March 3rd at 7:15pm (details). I hope to see you at one of these events.

Then I'm off to play in Boston Next weekend with Christopher Hogwood and The Handel & Haydn Society in Symphony Hall on Friday the 7th of March at 8:00pm, and Sunday the 9th of March at 7:30pm. We'll be playing Haydn 88, Mozart 25, and a Horn Concerto by each of these masters, featuring Jamie Somerville (details).

Hi there, and welcome to my website. I'm sorry to say I was hacked in the fall, and it's taken a while to get things up and running again. Stay tuned for more postings soon, but briefly, here is a list of some upcoming performances:

1. 03/07/2008 Orchestra Performance with the Handel & Haydn Society Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
2. 03/09/2008 Orchestra Performance with the Handel & Haydn Society Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
3. 03/18/2008 Jazz Recital with Frank Campos, Hockett Recital Hall, Ithaca College
4. 04/02/2008 Tango Performance with Tango di Camera (Daniel Binelli, Pablo Cohen, and Steven Mauk), Hockett Recital Hall, Ithaca College
5. 04/04/2008 Early Music Performance with the IC Period Instrument Ensemble and the IC Opera Workshop, Hockett Recital Hall, Ithaca College
6. 04/29/2008 Early Music Performance with the IC Period Instrument Ensemble at St. Paul’s Church, Ithaca
7. 05/01/2008 Early Music Performance with the IC Period Instrument Ensemble, Hockett Recital Hall, Ithaca College

I had an amazing jazz experience last night in Cooperstown, playing with the inimitable jazz pianist, John Stetch, and the fabulous Tom Killian on drums. We played as part of the Cooperstown Concert Series, performing John's originals and his riveting arrangements of television theme songs. It was a blast.

I'll be playing a great gig tonight in Ithaca with the same trio, plus Cornell Jazz Director, Paul Merrill on trumpet, IC Jazz Director, Steve Brown on Guitar, and West Coast phenom, John Stowell on guitar. Please come! It should be outstanding!

John Stowell Sextet Carriage House Cafe 5-7 PM
Paul Merrill, trumpet
John Stowell, guitar
Steve Brown, guitar
John Stetch, piano
Nicholas Walker, bass
Tom Killian, drums

Sunday November 4 with guitaristJohn Stowell
At Cornell: Improvisation Master Class (all are invited to play)
12:00-1:30 PM Lincoln B20

I'm having a great time in Boston this week playing with the Handel Haydn Society period instrument performance practice symphony orchestra. We're playing an all Beethoven program at Symphony Hall, and the ensemble is outstanding. If you are in the area, don't miss the show! Grant Llewellyn is conducting the Coriolan Overture, Symphony No. 7, and Piano Concerto No. 3 featuring Kristian Bezuidenhout.

Next weekend, I'll be playing with The Ensemble Formerly Known as X; Steven Stucky, conductor, with guest composer Luca Antignani. Features contemporary Italian music by Antignani, Francesco Antonioni, and Luigi Dallapiccola. Luca's Il Viaggio di Humbert, commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, is receiving its world premiere performances in Philadelphia, Bloomington, San Francisco, and Ithaca. Sunday, October 28 8:00 pm Barnes Auditorium. For more information click here.