TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Philanthropic Services provided by grants from the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust, The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's ArtsEverywhere initiative, and the Arts Project Support Grant and Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.

Our Home Grown Jazz Performance Series presents the Don Lerman Quartet. The Don Lerman Quartet will perform the music of composer/arranger Johnny Mandel, who passed away in June of 2020. Mandel was born in Manhattan in 1925 and moved with his family to California in 1934. Early in his career, Mandel played in the brass sections of big bands led by Boyd Rayburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, and Count Basie, and began writing and arranging for the orchestras of Elliot Lawrence and later Basie in the early 1950s. In 1958, he wrote music for the film “I Want to Live” which was performed by Gerry Mulligan and his group, when it was not common for movies to utilize jazz. Mandel later composed, conducted, and arranged the music for numerous other movies, including “The Sandpiper” (whose theme was “The Shadow of Your Smile”), “The Americanization of Emily” (“Emily”), MASH (“Suicide is Painless”), and Agatha (“Close Enough for Love”). He collaborated with such eminent lyricists as Paul Francis Webster, Johnny Mercer, Paul Williams, Dave Frishberg, and Marilyn and Alan Bergman. Mandel’s arrangements were featured on noted recordings by vocalists Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Diane Shuure, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, and Brasil ‘66. Don will be joined in this tribute to the great Johnny Mandel by Marian Emery on piano, Darrel Tidaback on bass, and Ron Monsma on drums.

Don Lerman - saxophone

Marian Emery - piano

Darrel Tidaback - bass

Ron Monsma - drums

Don Lerman performed for several years in big bands and smaller groups in the Washington, DC area before returning to his native South Bend. In previous concerts at Merriman's Playhouse, he and his quartet have presented tributes to Benny Carter, Duke Ellington, Vince Guaraldi, Lucky Thompson, Stan Getz, and Gerry Mulligan. Don's other musical influences include Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, and Lee Konitz.

Darrel Tidaback is a South Bend bassist with a history of directing the IUSB Jazz Ensemble and Twin Cities Jazz Orchestra. He began his college teaching career at St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas in 1990. Darrel may be heard with jazz and orchestral groups throughout the region. He has performed on more than twenty recordings including his own Time ines. Darrel holds an undergraduate degree in music from Saint Mary’s University and a Master of Music degree in string bass performance from the University of Texas, San Antonio.

Marian Emery, M.M. is a pianist and educator from Cinnaminson, NJ, who moved to South Bend in 1992. She graduated from Penn State University in music Composition, after which she performed in Philadelphia night clubs and throughout the state of Pennsylvania and at the Jersey shore. She is semi-retired after teaching piano and music theory at Indiana University South Bend, Culver Academies, and a local private school. She served on the board of Fischoff National Chamber Music Association and is currently on the arts advisory board for the Raclin School of the Arts at IUSB. Marian has performed with most of the jazz organizations in the South Bend-Elkhart area for the last 25 years, and has a daughter living in Chicago.

Ron Monsma has retired from his position as Associate Professor of Drawing and Painting at IU South Bend, but not from playing the drums. Over the years he has played locally and toured nationally, playing all styles of music from rock to blues and eventually to Jazz.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trusts and Foundations, through grants provided by the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation, the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Trust Foundation, and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust, The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation, and also The Walton Family Fund of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. Special concert event support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant.