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, Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community 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. Concert support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season).

Ben Rosenblum - piano and accordian

Matt Dwonszyk - bass

Ben Zweig - drums

Website: www.benrosenblummusic.com

https://youtu.be/tz-81dUw-xQ and https://youtu.be/0p7XxcW-Oj8

Award-winning New York City jazz pianist Ben Rosenblum will perform an intimate concert at Merrimans' Playhouse in South Bend, IN, part of a five performance Midwest tour through Iowa, Indiana and Michigan. The internationally touring multi-instrumentalist has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Sea of Tranquility), an “impressive talent” (All About Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Downbeat Magazine). Drawing from an eclectic repertoire which includes selections from the jazz and popular music traditions, as well as global music influences from South America, Eastern Europe, Ireland and the Caribbean, Rosenblum combines his modern, melodic sensibility with his broad knowledge of a variety of musical lineages from the past one hundred years. The trio never repeats the same program twice in a row - every evening is a unique experience shaped by the audience and the setting.

Since the release of his 2017 debut trio album, Instead (4 stars, Downbeat), Ben Rosenblum has toured with his trio throughout the United States, including multiple extensive tours of the Northeast, Midwest, South and West Coast, and internationally in Canada, Europe and Japan. He was a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall's Stern-Perelman Auditorium – with Reona Ito's New York Harmonic Band – and has appeared at prestigious venues throughout the world, including at the Appel Room at Lincoln Center, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Ravinia, Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall in Yokohama, Bird's Eye in Basel, and the Library of Congress. His second album, River City, was called “richly romantic” and “well-realized” by JAZZIZ Magazine, which featured the title track as part of their Fall 2018 CD. Recently, Rosenblum released his third album, Kites and Strings, which is the first to feature him on both piano and accordion alongside his sextet, the Nebula Project. In 2020, the Nebula Project was voted runner-up for Best New Artist in JazzTimes' Readers' Poll.

Matt Dwonszyk is an accomplished bassist, composer, arranger and educator from Rocky Hill, CT. Dwonszyk graduated from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz studying under his mentor and world-renowned bassist, Nat Reeves and then went on to receive his master’s degree from SUNY Purchase College. Based in Brooklyn, NY since 2015, Dwonszyk still frequents back home to Connecticut to perform and teach. Throughout his career, Dwonszyk has performed and recorded with numerous contemporaries as well as legendary jazz artists including Steve Davis, Harold Mabern, Jazzmeia Horn, Bennie Wallace, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Herlin Riley among many others. In 2018, Dwonszyk toured through Russia apart of the Rainy Days Jazz Festival and in 2019 he toured through Canada with the Oleg Butman Trio. His last tour was in 2022 with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead through the West Coast of the U.S. He frequently performs at some of the top jazz clubs in New York City including Smalls Jazz Club, Dizzy's Coca Cola Club, Smoke and The Blue Note. Dwonszyk's debut recording, "Wonderful World", was released May of 2019. His second album, "A Year and a Day", released July 1st, 2022, featuring his band, the Dwonztet. Since 2019, Dwonszyk has been a faculty member of Manchester Community College and Central Connecticut State College teaching Jazz Bass. He also teaches part time at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the Hartt School of Music.

Drummer and percussionist, Ben Zweig, has performed around the world in Japan, China, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, Chile, Cameroon, across North America, and regularly at venues in his native NYC. He keeps an active performance schedule and tours frequently throughout the United States and Canada. Born in 1992 in NYC, Zweig frequented the local scene of seasoned jazz musicians who eventually became close mentors. He has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of these masters – Randy Weston, Johnny O’Neal, Jerry Dodgion, Harold Mabern, Larry Ridley, David Williams, Roy Hargrove, Deborah Davis, Grant Stewart, Joe Cohn, and Steve Nelson. Downbeat Magazine has described his playing as “especially crisp and articulate” and all about jazz comments, “Zweigsteals it with his brush work.” Ben strives for his playing to reflect a passion for performing simple, heartfelt music. Beginning his musical journey on drum set at age 5, he later picked up trumpet and steel drums. Those early voices ultimately shaped his expression on the drums, drawing from the American jazz tradition, West-African, Brazilian, Caribbean, and European classical music. In 2018, Zweigtraveled to southeast Cameroon to work with Global Music Exchange and tour with master musicians of the Baka Gbiné pygmies. Ben’s fascination with rhythmic dance music from around the world led to the formation of the drum choir, Big Beet. Grammy winning producer Don Sickler commented, “[Ben] is able to combine history with the current musical environment, making it sound fresh.” Zweig has had the fortune to study music in a variety of environments. Those experiences have fueled his love and dedication towards continuing the legacy of shared aural tradition in music education. His teaching is the culmination of public schooling and private conservatory, NYC late night sessions, jazz youth programs, steel orchestra seasons, marching bands, national orchestras, and mentorship from Joe Farnsworth, Billy Hart, Kenny Washington, Rodney Green, Justin DiCioccio, Christopher Brown, John Riley, Rogerio Boccato, and Ken Piascik. Ben received his B.M. and a M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music. He has taught private lessons for over 10 years, primary school and university jazz and drum clinics, and runs a lesson studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.