Evan Whitfield

Evan Whitfield (piano, composition, improvisation) is a twenty-first century performer, musician, educator, and practitioner-researcher in the field of contemporary classical piano improvisation. Evan specializes in eclectic performances which synthesize virtuosic improvisation with interdisciplinary, compositional forms. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music (MM ’01), he has performed at Jordan Hall in Boston, the Knitting Factory in NYC, and Blackheath Halls in London, UK. From 2021 to 2022 he was a doctoral candidate at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in Greenwich, UK, and his thesis was recently published in The Journal of the Utah Academy of Science, Arts, & Letters (2023). As a liberal arts educator, he has held positions at The Dublin School, East Carolina University, and Southern Utah University. Presently he is engaged as the Music Teacher for Farmington High School in New Hampshire, and as the Music Director for the First Congregational Church of Kittery, ME.

CCMS Pays Tribute to Miles Davis on April 10, 2025

by Jeff SelesnickOn Thursday, April 10, The Bank of New Hampshire Stage will once again play host to what is quickly becoming a flagship event in the Concord Community Music School calendar. Continuing the tradition of the popular “Jazz in January” series, CCMS’s April Jazz Night, now in its third year and featuring the CCMS Jazz All-Stars, has taken on a life of its own. This annual event,held at the Bank of New Hampshire State in Downtown Concord celebrates legends of the genre and raises money for the Music School’s financial aid program.“This annual event is special for the school for many reasons – it gives our faculty an opportunity to perform together, showcase our enthusiasm for the genre to attendees, and socialize with the community before and after the event,” says CCMS jazz and popular music department chair Zeb Cruikshank, who is also the music coordinator for this year’s event, “A Jazz Milestone: A Miles Davis Tribute”.Cruikshank was drawn to Davis, one of the most iconic jazz musicians of all time, thanks in large part to Davis’s most famous album, Kind of Blue. He explains, “With its personnel of legendary jazz musicians like John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly, and track list consisting of popular jazz standards like ‘All Blues’ and ‘So What,’ the album has had a lasting impact on fans and performers of jazz for decades.”Not wanting to just play the songs off Davis’ seminal work, Cruikshank implored his bandmates to help him fill out the set list. Because of the trumpeter’s prolific nature, the task was both intriguing and challenging.“Miles is one of those artists who never stopped innovating – starting out in the 1940s playing alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and ending his career working on a hip-hop record in 1991,” notes bassist Matt Hogan. “We’re going to try and cover as much as we can and hope to try and express in a small way just how much ground Miles covered during his incredible life.”The CCMS Jazz All-Stars is comprised of CCMS faculty, alumni, and friends, with an aim to not only entertain but educate eager concertgoers. The rhythm section includes Hogan on bass and Jared Steer on drums; both have played all three of the April Jazz Night performances. Cruikshank (playing guitar) is making his second appearance at the event, debuting at last year’s tribute to the music of drummer Max Roach. Andrew Grosvenor (keys) and Russ Ryan (trumpet) will be making their first appearance at the event.The group has become adept at not only performing exquisite jazz but utilizing the audio-visual capabilities of the venue to provide context to the music they perform. Displaying album artwork and historic images on a large screen behind the performers has become a signature style of the event, adding depth to the overall experience. Patrons can expect what has become a classic CCMS Jazz Night scene, replete with tapping feet, ah-ha moments, and a palpable adoration of jazz music.“Jazz Night owes so much of its success to the hard work of the staff behind the scenes – there’s so much involved in making this night happen on top of the work everyone is doing every day at the school,” notes Hogan. “It would be easy to treat this like any other event, but the staff really goes the extra mile to make the evening special.”To purchase tickets for “A Jazz Milestone”, visit ccanh.com.
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Shades of Green

CCMS folk faculty prepares for a Spring filled with lively Celtic music and new musical friendships by Jeff SelesnickLate winter is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for Celtic musicians. Venues are booking acts for St. Patrick’s Day shows, and guitarists, fiddlers, pipers, and others are getting called in for various sessions and events. Fortunately for our musical family, four members of our folk faculty – Liz Faiella, Dan Faiella, Audrey Budington, and Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki – devote significant time and energy each year towards developing programming presented here at the Music School.The four musicians are also CCMS alumni and their genuine friendship, respect, and admiration for each other is readily apparent. “The fact that all four of us grew up playing music together as students and friends through the Music School and are now doing the same as colleagues here is just so remarkable and really speaks to the nurturing environment of the school, says Budington. “Now we greet each other in the hallways and drop in to each other’s studios for the odd jam between lessons. Where else but CCMS would you ever find a place so kind and wonderful that former students want to come back to teach? We’re so, so lucky.”The capstone performances for these friends and in-demand Celtic musicians are this March Bach’s Lunches. This annual tradition highlights the CCMS folk faculty and celebrates the traditions of Celtic music from around the world. On March 6, Dan Faiella will present a lecture on the history of the beloved Anglo-Celtic folk song “John Barleycorn.” One week later, the Celtic quartet takes the stage for the annual pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebration known as “A Celtic Journey.” Bach’s Lunches are free, open to the public, and made possible in part through the generous support of the Walker Fund.“Performing in these shows is a blast,” says Folk Faculty Chair Liz Faiella. “The audience’s energy is wonderful, and I love that we get to have basically a giant party in the recital hall midday on a Thursday!”“The exciting thing for me about folk music is how it connects you with the recent and the distant past, but also how it connects you with other traditions that influence your own,” adds Dan Faiella.The carefully curated setlist for the March 13 performance is still being finalized. It has traditionally included Irish classics, New England contradance pieces, and tunes from Cape Breton, Brittany (a Celtic region of France), and beyond. The quartet ensures that people will hear music they know, love, and associate with St. Patrick’s Day, along with a handful of lesser-known pieces. The Faiella siblings, Budington, and Tirrell-Wysocki also grew up in the same musical ecosystem, logging tunes and developing technique within the central New Hampshire folk scene. As a result, there is palpable intuition between the performers which allows for the creativity and spontaneity on display during the annual Bach’s lunch sets. The instrumentation of the group is also unique in folk/Celtic circles – often times there is just one fiddler who holds the responsibility of carrying the melody within a folk group. With Budington, Tirrell-Wysocki, and Liz Faiella all playing fiddle, it allows the quartet to explore variations, countermelodies, harmonies, and rhythms that they wouldn’t otherwise have the freedom to play. And Dan Faiella’s ability to seamlessly switch between chords and melody gives the quartet a nuanced, unique sound.Fans of the talented quartet will have additional opportunities to hear their music via the recently-launched “New England Roots and Branches” Series, which celebrates New England’s unique and beautiful folk music tradition. This three-part series, which is free and open to the public, is made possible in part through a Folklife and Traditional Arts grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. “The series is a wonderful opportunity for the four of us to do more together than the 50 minutes a year that we get at the Bach’s Lunch,” says Tirrell-Wysocki. “We get to explore various sides of New England fiddle music and even more importantly, we get to share the music with a wider circle of musicians since each concert is preceded by a jam session. This is folk music – it’s meant to be a community experience!””Roots and Branches” kicked off on January 25, 2025 with a Contradance Music session at Concord’s Citywide Community Center. The performance space was filled to capacity, with fans spilling out into the venue’s corridors. The next event in the series will be held at CCMS on Saturday, April 5. Titled “Transatlantic Tunes: Celtic and British Isles Folk Tunes,” the session will celebrate European folk music and feature a beginner-friendly slow jam, a concert, and a fast jam following the show.“My hope with this series is to build appreciation of (and participation in!) the really rich musical tradition we have here in New Hampshire,” says Liz Faiella. “Folk music can be such a social experience, and I’d love for people to get the chance to connect in that way, both with each other and with this tradition, no matter where they are on their musical journeys.”Above, L-R: Dan Faiella, Liz Faiella, Audrey Budington, and Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki at the inaugural “Roots and Branches” performance in January 2025.
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Stanford Student Thrives on Piano Lessons with CCMS Instructor

by Jeff Selesnick Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Esther Elonga and her family fled to Uganda as refugees when she was only three. Her parents thought the family’s stay in Uganda would only be a matter of months, but it ended up being nearly 13 years. Life was difficult as refugees in Uganda, with her and her family enduring a season where her father fell sick, a time when her mother generated all the income for the family, and months when rent money was in short supply.“Music played a really important role in our life,” she recalls. “We used to pray together as a family at night, and every time we would pray, we would start by singing. We mostly sang Swahili hymns, and they were important to us because they gave us hope. Those songs were our stronghold, helping us to continue trusting in God.”Her nightly singing sessions with her family also exposed Esther to the power music has to build community. Despite being the only Congolese family in their area of Kampala, Uganda, neighbors heard Esther’s family singing every evening and slowly began learning the songs and participating in the evening prayers. “Even if you don’t understand the language, I think everyone can identify with the meaning of these songs,” she says.After the extended stay in Uganda, Esther and her family resettled in Concord in December 2014, halfway through her sophomore year in high school. Adjusting to the culture, food, and weather proved to be challenging, but Esther completed a successful tenure at Concord High School and was accepted into Harvard upon graduation.While she sang sporadically with the Songweavers women’s chorus in high school, Esther’s relationship with Concord Community Music School truly began in the spring of 2020. Forced to return home during her junior year at Harvard when the pandemic shuttered the campus, Esther found herself with some precious free time for the first time in years. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it.“It had always been in my heart to learn to play the piano and to specifically learn to play these Swahili hymns from my childhood,” she says. “Singing those songs again would take me back to those moments in Uganda. Yes, there were some painful moments, but also moments of hope and joy with neighbors and friends.”Esther received the financial aid she needed and started taking virtual lessons with piano faculty member Rebecca Herst. The early days were, as Esther puts it, “bumpy”; adapting to the Zoom lesson model, starting an instrument she had never played, and learning to read music for the first time in her life. But as she progressed and started honing the basic skills, with Herst’s help, she was able to begin focusing on learning the hymns of her childhood. “The music to these hymns was never written down, and Esther wanted to learn to play them and integrate that into the church/hymn-singing practice she experienced in Uganda,” says Herst. “I think it’s a lofty, unusual, and selfless goal and she’s coming along nicely.”Because everything started and stayed on Zoom, she was able to take classes through the end of her undergraduate career and has continued them even as she moved out west to begin the Medical Scientist Training Program at Stanford. While she was home for Christmas break in December of 2023, Esther had the opportunity to finally meet her instructor in person, and she and Herst could barely contain their excitement during their first, and to this point only, in-person lesson. Esther was even able to participate (virtually) in her first recital this spring, submitting a video of her performing a Swahili hymn from her childhood. The rigorous academic schedule at Stanford leaves little time for practicing, but Esther makes a point of rising early on Wednesday mornings for her session with Herst. “It’s a difficult journey,” says Esther describing the eight-year program she is currently in. “I enjoy everything that I’m doing but I can’t negate the fact that it’s difficult. These songs bring me back to a time where it was difficult, and I made it through, and they continue to encourage me along my journey.”Zoom allows Esther to stay in touch with Herst and her music education community, a constant throughout different locations and her many accomplishments. Watch Esther’s video performance on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=Ny-dgp-OZ7E
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