Pianist and keyboard specialist Gary Nesteruk, a leading Los Angeles studio musician for thirty-five years, will be the featured artist and presenter at a film music workshop hosted by Penn State Schuylkill.
Nesteruk will appear in a concert that features music by Rodgers and Hart from the 1957 film Pal Joey, which starred Frank Sinatra in the title role. Pal Joey, written by Pottsville native John O'Hara, originally appeared as a series of short stories in the New Yorker magazine, and was made into a successful Broadway musical in 1940 starring Gene Kelly, before being adapted to the screen in 1957. As 2015 marks the Frank Sinatra centennial, other tunes recorded by Sinatra will also be featured on the program.
The free concert takes place on Thursday, April 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Penn State Schuylkill R. Michael Fryer Conference Center. Performing with Nesteruk will be Philadelphia jazz great John Swana on valve trombone and EVI, New York vocalist Vicki Doney, Paul Gehman on bass, and Paul Miller on drums. Jacob Shoener, a senior at Pottsville Area High School, will perform a selection with the group on trumpet.
On Friday, April 17, at 11:00 a.m., also in the R. Michael Fryer Conference Center, Nesteruk will draw on his extensive studio experience and discuss the process of recording a sound track for a major Hollywood film. His presentation will focus on film soundtracks on which he played, including: The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996, starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer); Beauty Shop (2005, starring Queen Latifah); Spider-Man 3 (2007, starring Tobey Maquire and Kirsten Dunst); and others. In addition, Dr. Cynthia Lucia, professor of English and director of film and media studies at Rider University, will also present on film music.
The concert and presentation are both free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Dr. Paul Miller at 570-385-6073 or [email protected].