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The Manhattan School of Music Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Justin DiCioccio

The Program:
Krzysztof Knittel - Lipps, for jazz trio and orchestra; Jacek Kochan (drums), George Garzone (saxophone), and Billy Norris (bass)

Jim McNeely - Extra Credit, with soloists Jonathan Barnes (trumpet), Sam Harris (piano); Heart Shadow, with soloists George Garzone (saxophone), Ted Rosenthal (piano); 23/67, with soloists George Garzone (saxophone), Ted Rosenthal (piano); Firestorm, with soloist Scott Wendholt (trumpet)

Krzysztof Knittel's musical output includes instrumental and electro-acoustic music, audio-visual compositions, as well as incidental music for theater and film. Concerts dedicated exclusively to his music have been performed around the world. His compositions have been written for Poland's leading orchestras and most renowned soloists. Also a journalist and critic, Krzysztof Knittel is president of the Polish Music Council. He is known to New Yorkers for his opera Heartpiece - A Double Opera, composed with John King, which had its US premiere in 1999 at The Kitchen.

Knittel's work Lipps, composed in 1974 and scored for large orchestra and jazz trio, takes its title form the name of German philosopher and psychologist Theodore Lipps, who claimed that aesthetic experience has its source in the attribution of human feelings to inanimate objects. Lipps received its premiere in 1980 in Katowice, Poland, by the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Jacek Kaspszyk.

The Manhattan School of Music Jazz Philharmonic was created in 2001 by Justin DiCioccio and offers MSM musicians from both the jazz arts program and the classical division a unique educational experience that bridges the gap among classical, jazz, popular, show, and media music. The orchestra is dedicated to performing original compositions that combine jazz rhythms, harmonies, and soaring instrumental solos with contemporary classical compositional techniques. Guest performers have included Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, David Taylor, Ted Rosenthal, and Cecil Bridgewater.