Curated & Hosted by Michael McElroy
Featuring Joel A. Martin, Isaac Harlan, Matthew Whitaker
Special Guests with Joel A. Martin
Drums Jon Berger
Bass David Dunaway
Special Guests with Isaac Harlan
Singer Michael McElroy
Tap Dancer Sydney Burtis
Drummer Joe Spinelli
Bass Jerry DeVore
Choreographer/Dancer Abdur-Rahim Jackson
Special Guests with Matthew Whitaker
Bass Karim Hutton
Percussionist Ivan llanes Montejo
Drummer Johnny Steele
Guitarist Marcos Robinson
Flute Gabrielle Garo
Lead Vocalist Michael McElroy
Choir:
Casey Erin Clark, Mia Gerachis, Danielle Lee Greaves, Desiree Rodriguez,
Ben Roseberry, Allison Semmes, Will Stone , Nikisha Williams
Musical Masters runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
WELCOME Michael McElroy
INTERVEW Michael McElroy & Joel A. Martin
PERFORMANCE Joel A. Martin
With David Dunahay on bass
Jon Berger on drums
INTRODUCTION Michael McElroy
PERFORMANCE Isaac Harlan
Jerry DeVore on bass
Joe Spinelli on drums
Summertime
My Funny Valentine
INTERVEW Michael McElroy & Isaac Harlan
PERFORMANCE Sydney Burtis
PERFORMANCE Michael McElroy & Abdur-Rahim Jackson
Nature Boy
PERFORMANCE Sydney Burtis
INTRODUCTION Michael McElroy
PERFORMANCE Matthew Whitaker
With Marcus Robinson, Karim Hutton, Ivan Lianes on percussion and Johnny Steele
Toccata – Khachaturian
INTERVEW Michael McElroy & Matthew Whitaker
PERFORMANCE Matthew Whitaker
Blue Rondo a la Turk – Dave Brubeck
Stop Fighting – Matthew Whitaker
Take A Break – Matthew Whitaker
FINALE Matthew Whitaker
Tomorrow
BIOS
MICHAEL MCELROY – Artist-in-Residence Broadway: Sunday in the Park with George (2017 revival), Disaster! (vocal arr:) Next To Normal, Rent, The Wild Party, Big River (Tony Nom), The Who’s Tommy, Street Corner Symphony (vocal arr:), Miss Saigon, Patti LuPone on Broadway, and High Roller Social Pleasure Club. New York Philharmonic: Candide. National Tour: Next to Normal, Rent, Big River Sarafina. Michael is the Founder/Musical Director Emeritus of Broadway Inspirational Voices(BIV) www.bivoice.org. In 2019 Michael accepted his second Tony Award Honor for Excellence in the Theater on behalf of BIV from the American Theater Wing. Michael was nominated for a Grammy in 2005 for “Joy to the World” arrangement of BIV’s first holiday CD “Great Joy: A Gospel Christmas”. Michael compositions and arrangements have been performed at The Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall, Lincoln Center, Crystal Cathedral as well as churches and concert halls around the world. Michael received 2020 Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater Carnegie Mellon. He also received the 2022 North Campus Dean’s Martin Luther King Spirit Award and the 2022 SMTD Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award. Michael currently serves as Chair of the Department of Musical Theatre, University of Michigan
JOEL A. MARTIN– Joel A. Martin, the creator of Jazzical®, is a classical and jazz pianist, producer and composer who has collaborated with Grammy® Award-winners Alan Menken, Kathleen Battle, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, cellist Eugene Friesen, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jaimoe of the Allman Brothers. At age 17 Joel was the youngest and the first African-American pianist to compete in the 1985 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He has soloed with the NY Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, among many others.
ISAAC HARLAN is a Pittsburgh native who studied piano at Penn State University. Since 2010 he has worked in NYC as a pianist, music director and orchestrator. Isaac has played concerts for Norm Lewis, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Eden Espinosa, and Brandon Victor Dixon, and has also had the pleasure of working on developing musicals by writers such as Tituss Burgess, Alex Gemignani, Michael McElroy, and Black Thought. He accompanies the younger generation of singers through his work with NYU, YoungArts, and the National High School Musical Theatre Awards. Isaac also works with the Broadway Inspirational Voices, a grammy-nominated gospel choir, as a pianist and orchestrator. Most recently, he played piano for the Off-Broadway production of Black No More at the Signature Theatre as well as for a recent workshop of Pal Joey.
MATTHEW WHITAKER – Born in 2001, Matthew Whitaker’s love for playing music began at age 3, after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard. At 9, Matthew began teaching himself how to play the Hammond B3 organ. Four years later, he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond—in its 87-year history. He was also named a Yamaha Artist at 15, becoming the youngest musician to join the stellar group of jazz pianists. He’s toured both in the US and abroad, performing on prestigious stages around the country including Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts, SF Jazz Center, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, and at international venues in France, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, UK, Australia, Switzerland, Portugal, Japan, Spain, Morocco, and South Korea to name a few. Matthew’s television appearances include FOX TV’s Showtime at the Apollo, the Today Show documentary series “Boys Changing the World,” the Harry Connick Jr Show an appearance on the syndicated TV talk show Ellen and a feature segment on the most-watched news magazine on television CBS 60 Minutes!