Birsa Chatterjee - Saxophone, Vocal
Dan Finn - Bass
Esteban Castro - Piano
Percussion - Kofi Shepsu
This performance will also be streamed live
Birsa Chatterjee
Birsa Chatterjee is a graduate of Oberlin College for his Bachelors and Masters at The Juilliard School for a performance degree in Jazz saxophone. In 2019 he graduated from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music with degrees in Saxophone and Vocal performance. He was a part of the nationally recognized and award winning jazz education programs such as Jazz House Kids and Jazz at Lincoln Center and was the first recipient of the James Moody scholarship . Birsa has played in Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note Jazz Club, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, NJPAC and in countries like Peru and India aside from the United States. Most recently Chatterjee has been forging new ground as a composer blending together authentic elements of Indian Classical music and Jazz. Birsa has scored and composed the music to many theater productions at the South Asian Theater Festival that has hosted events in New Jersey, Ohio, Nepal, and India. The Birsa Chatterjee Quartet debuted a performance at the Silvereye International Film Festival virtually in October 2020 that had viewers from all around the globe. He has been commissioned by the New Jersey association, Ananda Mandir, to write and perform a suite influenced by the folk music of Bengal, India. Chatterjee has played with Jazz greats as well and has also been a guest soloist with the Dominick Ferinacci Big Band and performed along side Terrance Blanchard at the Tri-C Jazz Festival. Birsa performs around the country and has a lot of teaching experiencing with students of all age ranges/levels. He teaches at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Juilliard youth programs, Jazz House Kids, and privately in New York City.
Dan Finn
Bassist Dan Finn was born and raised in Westchester, New York. He spent his early years performing in local orchestras and big bands, studying with Harvie S before accepting an offer to attend the Oberlin Conservatory. Since then he has had the pleasure of studying with Ron Carter, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Peter Dominguez, Jamey Haddad and Jay Ashby. Throughout his time at Oberlin, he has had the opportunity to perform with icons such as Jamey Haddad, Jay Ashby, Rogerio Souza, Roni Ben-Hur, Zach Brock, Tamir Hendelman, Alain Mallet, Magda Giannikou and more. He was recently awarded bachelor degrees in both History and Jazz Bass from Oberlin College and Conservatory. Dan recently began his graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in the fall of 2020 where he is studying in the studio of Jazz legend, Ron Carter.
Esteban Castro
Esteban is an 18-year-old pianist and composer from New York who captivates audiences and critics with performances that are intimate and sophisticated beyond his young years. He attends the Juilliard School on a full-tuition Thomas Dubois Hormel Memorial Scholarship, studying with Ted Rosenthal. He also studies privately with Fred Hersch. He recently graduated as a double major from the MSM Precollege on a Nana’s Way Scholarship, studying classical piano with Phillip Kawin and jazz with Jeremy Manasia.
At age 13, Esteban was the First Prize Winner in the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition in 2016, making him the youngest ever to receive this prestigious award. At 14, he was the youngest First Prize recipient at the 2017 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition.
With over 40 compositions to his name, Esteban has garnered three ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards, and has won fifteen Downbeat Student Music Awards. He was selected as a pianist for the Grammy Band in 2017 and 2018, as a 2019 YoungArts Finalist, and as a member of the 2019 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. He has won a variety of classical piano competitions, including the 2019 MSM Precollege Philharmonic Concerto Competition, playing Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto. Esteban was commissioned for a big band arrangement by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for the Thelonious Monk 100th Birthday Celebration in 2018.
Esteban has played to sold-out audiences in venues such as The Blue Note, The Montreux Jazz Club, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. He's also performed in Switzerland, Italy, France, Peru, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Esteban routinely donates his time and performances to charitable causes such as the Jazz Ambassadors, the American Cancer Society, Haiti Disaster Relief, Aid to Victims of Hurricane Maria, and to provide musical instruments for needs-based students.
Kofi Shepsu
21 year old Kofi Shepsu came out of the womb drumming. He is an African Percussionist and studied the West African drums for 7 years under the Master Baba Olumide, starting at age 4. .He was formally introduced to Jazz and the drum set as a member of the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild under the direction of Ashby Anderson. Kofi received a full scholarship for Berklee College of Music Summer Jazz Workshop with Terri Lyne Carrington. He is a 2017 YoungArts Jazz and Vail Jazz Workshop Finalist. In addition, he was selected in 2017 to attend Berklee College of Music Global Jazz Institute/Newport Jazz Festival. He is a 2018 graduate of Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology. Kofi has gotten the opportunity to perform with Savion Glover and Marc Cary and Steven Feifke. His goal is to be a music ambassador for Jazz.