Newton Piano Summit - Domas Žeromskas and Dennis Montgomery III
When:
Saturday, Mar 22, 2025 3:00p -
5:00p
Saturday, Mar 22, 2025 3:00p -
5:00p
Where:
Second Church in Newton
60 Highland Street
Newton, MA 02465
Admission:
FREE
Hosted by:
Categories:
Accessible Spots, Music
Event website:
https://newtonpianosummit.org
Domas Žeromskas: Dynamic Trailblazer
The music of Domas Žeromskas is fresh, creative, full of spirit & wonderful musical ideas and his playing shines thru all.– Bob James
Domas Žeromskas’ playing showcases beauty, inventiveness, maturity, and excitement. All of this, along with his considerable writing chops, make him a player to watch out for.
– Greg Tardy
All the younger artists that have headlined the Summit have displayed prodigious abilities that signal long careers ahead. The 24-year-old Lithuanian jazz pianist and composer has spent his early formative years on stage alongside prominent jazz veterans. By the time he graduated high school, Domas was already a sought-after player, known for his technical versatility and soulful, eclectic taste.
He resides in Boston while pursuing his master’s at the New England Conservatory. Domas’ original music combines Post-Bop and metrically-nuanced modern jazz with Gospel/sacred music traditions and Afro-Caribbean styles. The repertoire is also enriched by modern adaptations of his native Lithuanian composers’ songbook and Baltic folklore.
Upon graduating from Berklee, Domas recorded “Meditations on Providence and Perseverance, Vol.1”.
Dennis Montgomery III : Gospel Giant
Montgomery grew up singing and playing in Baptist churches around the upper Louisiana area under the tutelage of his father and mother, By the time he was nine years old he was proficient enough on the Hammond B3 Organ to get hired to work alongside his father. Montgomery came to Berklee College of Music in 1983. Shortly after he arrived at Berklee, he headed for the gospel choir which had only recently come into existence. While Berklee’s education is focused on jazz, “We know that jazz has its roots in the negro spiritual, which is gospel music. Gospel is also the mother of a lot of other secular music that America has produced.”
Gospel at Berklee grew rapidly and when Mongomery graduated he assumed the direction of the Reverence Gospel Ensemble as a full-time faculty member. Montgomery believes that the choir is a fundamental ingredient of the American experience for international students, which is probably why students from all over Asia, South America, Europe, and Australia all come to be a part of the choir. Montgomery states, “When I was young, I had to learn European musical styles. So when foreign students come to Berklee, I think it is important to educate them in a true form of American music.” The choir has served as a catalyst for some premiere voices in the music industry such as Paula Cole, Lalah Hathaway, Susan Tedeschi, Claude Kelly, Rob Lewis and Mark Whitfield.
This program is supported in part by grants from the Village Bank which has a long tradition of commitment to the Garden City, Advance Auto in Nonantum – providing quality service for everything automotive, Honda Village, and the Newton Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, Newton Community Pride, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Charles River Foundation and private donors.
