Bruce Wolosoff Kicks Off Shelter Island Friends Of Music Series

Shelter Island Friends of Music presents its first concert of the 2022 season on Saturday, April 9, at 7 p.m., featuring Bruce Wolosoff, pianist and composer, at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

A longtime Shelter Island resident, he will be performing on the island for the first time, including compositions written there.

The concert opens with Schubert’s Impromptu in Gb Major Opus 90 No. 3 and several pieces by Debussy. The second half is comprised entirely of Wolosoff’s original compositions.

In addition to studying classical piano since the age of three, Wolosoff cites jazz greats like Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Chick Corea as influential in his music.

“As an American composer in the early part of the 21st century,” Wolosoff said, “I’m working within the classical tradition and extending it by embracing some of these ‘folkloric’ elements, the way that the composers of the past did with the music of their culture… apparent in works by Schubert or Haydn.”

His compositional inspirations also include visual arts and dance: artworks by his friends Eric Fischl and April Gornik and his wife, Margaret Garrett and a collaboration with the late choreographer Ann Reinking on two award-winning ballets.

He is also artistic director of Reflections in Music, a non-profit organization that presents music “in conversation with other art forms.”

Wolosoff's recording of “Concerto for Cello and Orchestra” with the Royal Philharmonic and Sara Sant’Ambrogio, cellist of the Eroica Trio, was a Billboard Top 10 best-selling classical album. His latest collaboration with Sant’Ambrogio, “Paradise Found: Cello Music of Bruce Wolosoff,” will be available on April 15, 2022.

Admission to the concert is free, with donations appreciated. Masks are optional. A reception with Wolosoff follows the concert. Shelter Island Presbyterian Church is at 32 North Ferry Road (Route 114). Visit shelterislandfriendsofmusic.org for more information.