JAZZ QUARTET PRESENTS CONCERT AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE
March 21, 2017
Williamstown, Massachusetts—Saxophonist and composer Kris Allen, the Lyell B. Clay Artist-in-Residence in Jazz at Williams College, and his quartet present a night of jazz standards and original compositions at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, April 8 at 7 pm in the auditorium. Tickets are $25 ($22 members, $15 students) and may be purchased online at clarkart.edu or by calling 413 458 0524.
The performance will highlight tracks from Allen’s most recent album, Beloved, called “triumphant” by National Public Radio. The quartet includes tenor saxophonist Frank Kozyra, bassist Luques Curtis, and drummer Jonathan Barber.
ABOUT KRIS ALLEN
Born and raised in Connecticut, Kris Allen began musical studies at an early age; he apprenticed with legendary alto saxophonist Jackie McLean at Hartford’s Artists Collective and the Hartt School of Music in McLean’s African American Music Degree Program. Allen is a founding member of the Jazz Samaritan Alliance and the Hartford Legacy Big Band. He has held positions at the Hartt School, Trinity College, Southern Connecticut State University, and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. He has been a teaching artist for Litchfield Performing Arts since 2001 and has conducted clinics and master classes at institutions across the nation and worldwide.
Allen has performed throughout the United States and worldwide as a composer, arranger, and bandleader. Beloved is his second album for the Truth Revolution Recording Collective. Allen’s quartet has been praised by Jazziz Magazine as “today’s saxophone dream band,” and Downbeat Magazine described Beloved as “one of the better new releases to come out this year…locating the profound within the familiar.”
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
Press contact:
Clark Art Institute
[email protected]
413 458 0471