With the Ortner-Roberts Duo

General Admission $15
($13 Opera House Members)
DFT Communications Spotlight Series

When a passionate clarinet meets a "hot" piano, the sparks fly -- and not just musically.  The German clarinetist Susanne Ortner and the American pianist Tom Roberts met in 2006 in Pittsburgh while performing.  Sparks flew and they subsequently married.  Along the way, they also developed a concert repertoire that can only be described as Hot World Chamber Music.

Hot ... the word used to describe hard swinging jazz music of the 20s and 30s, as opposed to the sweet bands that had gained in popularity during the depression.

World ... the Ortner-Roberts Duo explores the rich traditions of world music and discovers little known treasures, which they combine into an eclectic musical gumbo.

Chamber Music ... an Ortner-Roberts Duo performance is presented in the manner of a chamber concert, with the added twist of lively, comedic banter and wonderful anecdotes about the songs' original composers and performers.

From Benny Goodman to Caribbean Calypso, from Jelly Roll Morton to Eastern European Klezmer, from James Booker to Argentinean Tango, Susanne & Tom blend and fuse various genres with classical themes and techniques to great success in presenting "an intoxicating and rousing concert not to be topped!"

Tom Roberts is one of the leading interpreters of early jazz piano in the world today.  He has performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Kiellor.  He has arranged music for the syndicated PRI show Riverwalk Jazz, Live from the Landing with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, as well as a number of pieces for Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.  He arranged and performed music for the soundtrack of Martin Scorcese's film The Aviator, as well as several titles for the film DeLovely.  He has twice performed at New York's Carnegie Hall and was featured in solo with Dick Hyman at the prestigious Jazz in July series at New York's 92nd St. Y.

Susane Ortner-Roberts is internationally acclaimed both as a soloist and as a member of the German quartet "Sing Your Soul."  Her expressive interpretation of Klezmer music is noted for its authenticity, depth, beauty and warmth.  Likewise, her performance of the music of jazz clarinetists Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Sidney Bechet and Johnny Dodds has been recognized for its power and intensity.  She collaborates with jazz and Klezmer musicians from Germany and throughout the U.S. including trumpeter Charlie Caranicas and drummer Tom Elrick.  Ortner-Roberts arranges and composes music and has worked on several book and film projects.  She currently is the subject of a biography being written by German Television journalist Helge Fuhst.

A.J. Swearingen & Jonathan Beedle

With A.J. Swearingen & Jonathan Beedle

General Admission $15
($13 Opera House Members)
DFT Communications Spotlight Series

A.J. Swearingen and Jonathan Beedle have been performing this remarkable tribute to the music of Simon & Garfunkel for more than a decade; and their sold-out shows prove the effect on their audience is undeniable. 

A chance meeting in 1991, in a local club in Bethlehem, Pa., brought these two talented artists together.  After only a brief introduction, they were blending their voices as if they had been performing together for a lifetime.  Swearingen's warm baritone and Beedle's soaring tenor combine flawlessly to capture the essence and magic of Simon & Garfunkel's sound of the early years in Greenwich Village. 

With a quiet stage and an acoustic guitar, Swearingen & Beedle recreate the memories of Simon & Garfunkel's classic hits, including: Scarborough Fair, The Boxer, The Sounds of Silence, I am a Rock, Homeward Bound, 59th Street Bridge Song, and Bridge Over Troubled Water, as well as more obscure songs such as  A Most Peculiar Man, Blues Run the Game, Bleeker Street, Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall and Blessed, to name but a few. 

Disover why audiences are cheering for this duo as they capture the magic in the music of Simon & Garfunkel.