Lane Series

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fred Hersch is unable to appear on the Lane Series this Friday, April 3.

BUT – we have fantastic news:

The incredible jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker has agreed to perform in his stead! Matthew is a multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-winning, Emmy- and NAACP Image Award-nominated band leader, composer and arranger, in huge demand as a performing artist. Matthew has been on my short list to appear on the Lane Series for a long time, and how lucky we are that he is available on short notice! 

The concert will still feature the work of Billy Strayhorn. In 2023, Matthew made his debut as musical director for the award-winning musical “Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For,” which premiered in Pittsburgh, PA. He knows his Strayhorn!

This will be an incredibly exciting concert with Matthew at the keyboard for a solo and trio set of Strayhorn’s music, followed by the UVM Jazz Orchestra with both Matthew and our own amazing Tom Cleary alternating at the piano. 

We hope you will take the leap and the opportunity to hear this extraordinary artist about whom Downbeat Magazine has written, "The fleetness of finger, the touch and taste, the grit and grime when he needs it, the lightness and airiness when it’s called upon - Whitaker has it all."

If you need more convincing, take a look at Matthew’s website here. 

Check out Matthew’s chops:

If you’d prefer a refund or would like to donate your ticket to a student, please contact us at lane.series@uvm.edu or call us 802-656-4455 between the hours of 10 – 3pm on Thursday or 10 – 6 on Friday. Ticket refund requests must be received by 6pm on Friday, April 3.

Click the image above take A Trip Down Memory Lane, a best-of-Lane Spotify playlist.

Want to learn more about the history of the Lane Series? Click the image below to read about where we came from and where we're going. 

UVM’s Land Acknowledgment Statement

The campus of the University of Vermont sits within a place of gathering and exchange, shaped by water and stewarded by ongoing generations of Indigenous peoples, particularly the Western Abenaki. Acknowledging the relations between water, land, and people is in harmony with the mission of the university. Acknowledging the serious and significant impacts of our histories on Indigenous peoples and their homelands is a part of the university’s ongoing work of teaching, research, and engagement and an essential reminder of our past and our interconnected futures for the many of us gathered on this land. UVM respects the Indigenous knowledge interwoven in this place and commits to uplifting the Indigenous peoples and cultures present on this land and within our community.