TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student. End time is estimate.

Saxophonist Don Lerman and his quartet present and perform the music of four great composers of music written for films: Max Steiner, an early pioneer of film music who composed or arranged music for over 300 films; Victor Young, composer of many well-known standards in addition to his work in film music; Elmer Bernstein, who wrote scores to over 150 films and nearly 80 television productions; and Michel Legrand, composer of many endearing songs and over 200 film scores. The group consisting of Don on saxophone, Billy Foster on piano, Darrel Tidaback on bass, and Dan DeGucz on drums will take great pleasure in performing a small sampling of the music of these prolific and notable composers.

Don Lerman - saxophone

Larry Dwyer - piano

Darrel Tidaback - bass

Dan DeGucz - drums

Don Lerman, a native of South Bend who graduated from Riley High School, spent many years performing on sax and clarinet in big bands around the Washington, D.C., area, most notably with the Harry James Orchestra that continued after the legendary big band trumpeter’s death in 1983. His influences include Art Pepper, Lucky Thompson, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan.

Larry Dwyer is a graduate of Notre Dame, where he was Outstanding Bandsman (1966), trombone soloist all four years with the concert band, and twice named “Best Trombonist” at the Collegiate Jazz Festival. He earned his Masters degree in music education and did doctoral studies at the University of Illinois. He is Associate Teaching Professor in Jazz, and Assistant Director of Bands at Notre Dame.

Larry Dwyer has been principal trombonist of the South Bend Symphony Pops Orchestra and pianist with his own jazz trio. He has performed with such jazz greats as Thad Jones, Clark Terry, Sonny Stitt, and Sarah Vaughan. Among his jazz band compositions are a religious trilogy: The Old Beelzebub Blues, Lord Save the Sinner, and The Abha Kingdom. His orchestral arrangements of the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and others have been performed and recorded by the South Bend Symphony, Houston Pops, Utah Symphony, and Rochester Philharmonic. Prior to teaching at Notre Dame, Mr. Dwyer taught band and jazz band in the South Bend public schools, and was director of jazz studies at Concordia University in Montreal.

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.

Drummer Dan Degucz was Influenced by a childhood friend who could ‘rock out’ on polkas, Dan began playing drums at the age of 10. He excelled in school band programs, while taking private lessons. A graduate of IUSB and an alumnus of their jazz band, he was heavily influenced by drummers such as Steve Gadd, Buddy Rich, Bernard Purdy, Richie Morales, James Bradley Jr. and a variety of Latin drummers.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trust Foundations, which include grants from the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation (2020-2021; 2022-2023 seasons), the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation (2021-2022; 2022-2023 seasons), and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust (2021-2022; 2022-2023; 2023-2024 seasons). Special concert event support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season). Activities are made possible in part by the Arts Organization Support (AOS), Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency (2023-2024 season).

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation (2020-2023 seasons). The Student and Home Grown Series concerts made possible, in part, with support from the ArtsEverywhere Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and the Arts Project Support Grant and the Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.