BRAVOPIANO!
MARTIN LESCH Internationally acclaimed pianist Martin Lesch performs an eclectic mix of music from early stride piano to jazz renditions of the Beatles and Bob Marley with equal joy. He has been a staple of the southern regional music scene for over two decades. His Monday night concert series “A Journey Through Jazz” at Hilton Head's legendary Jazz Corner plays to sold out audiences weekly. Lesch recently released a CD entitled “Journey Through Jazz” featuring jazz from all time periods that charted on ITunes Jazz Charts. Raised in New York City, Lesch’s mother convinced his father to spend his Christmas bonus on a piano, and Martin got the lessons he asked for on his fifth birthday. He studied with a NYU professor from an early age, graduating high school early to attend the Berklee College of Music. Lured by the active music scene for working players, he transplanted to the Southeast touring nationally and internationally with various artists and sharing the stage with numerous Grammy winners for a couple of decades. A meeting with the Jazz Corner’s founder, Bob Marsteller, led to a job offer at a time when life on the road had lost some of its allure. Lesch now has the time to indulge his passion for music education. He works with the nonprofit Junior Jazz Foundation which promotes Jazz education for the next young generation of musicians. What started with nine students, has grown in ten years to over 100. You may have heard the Junior Jazz All Stars perform at the HHSO’s performance space, SoundWaves. Martin has become an active champion for the arts generally in our community—as a board member of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, the Hilton Head Arts Council and the HHI Crescendo Festival—proposing in a TEDx talk that with “more community support and institutional structure”, the Lowcountry could become an arts destination.
This performance is made possible by a generous contribution from Diana Riggle.
Martin Lesch and Friends: Sing Out!
Tuesday, June 8 at 7:30 pm • Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort
For years I stuck to the more traditional roads of Jazz, but over time it grew on me that I needed to be more inclusive. I grew up around a lot of different cultures and types of music and I wanted to speak to a younger generation and hopefully inspire more of them to embrace jazz as listeners and musicians. So, as I started to perform more contemporary popular music, I realized it freed me from the constraints of being married to a genre. At the same time, I’ve tried to apply the great improvisational and free elements of Jazz to everything I perform.
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2021 BRAVOPIANO FESTIVAL
