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 Trio. The trio of Don Lerman on saxophone, Larry Dwyer on piano, and Darrel Tidaback will take pleasure in presenting the music of George and Ira Gershwin. Many familiar Gershwin melodies as well as some of his lesser known songs will be performed.

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.

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.