It’s an exciting season for jazz piano, and we’re delighted to present one of the greats – Fred Hersch. A member of jazz’s piano pantheon, he has been an influential creative force for more than three decades as an improviser, composer, educator, bandleader, collaborator, and recording artist. He has been proclaimed “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade” by Vanity Fair and “a living legend” by The New Yorker. A seventeen-time Grammy nominee, Hersch has garnered jazz’s most prestigious awards, including a Doris Duke Artist (2016), Jazz Pianist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association (2011, 2016, 2018), and the Jazz Magazine (France) International Artist of the Year (2021). 

This concert is part of the UVM School of the Arts theme for 2025-26: Hidden Figures which focuses on artists whose work has been erased, hidden or obscured because of identity, geography, or subjects. The Hidden Figure for this concert is the composer Billy Strayhorn, the brilliant American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and "Lush Life". Hersch is a passionate explorer of Strayhorn’s music, having made a critically acclaimed album of his music which he frequently plays in concert. He'll be performing one set solo, and one set with the UVM Big Band.