The Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Music Program in the Paul V. Hamilton School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences will host the internationally acclaimed jazz duo of Peter H. Bloom, flute, and John Funkhouser, piano, on Thursday, October 19, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the Sam and Sue Mars Performing Arts Center at Duke Hall of Citizenship. The performance is free to anyone who wishes to attend.
The concert, “Salute to Duke,” is part of a week-long tour in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It will celebrate Duke Ellington and his esteemed colleagues Billy Strayhorn, Juan Tizol and Mercer Ellington, with selections like “Caravan,” “Take the A Train,” “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” “Daydream” and “Jubilee Stomp.” Bloom and Funkhouser have performed together for 30 years in festivals, clubs, concert halls, museums, churches, colleges and universities and other venues. Each has impressive credentials performing nationally and internationally.
Bloom has performed in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia – including London, Bangkok, Canberra, Ottawa and other world capitals, and in hundreds of cities across 40 states and four continents. He appears on 48 CDs. Acclaimed for virtuosity and versatility, he performs widely with both classical and jazz ensembles. He has shared the stage with Charles Neville, Sheila Jordan, Geri Allen, Ricky Ford, Jaki Byard, Jimmy Guiffre and other jazz greats. He is contributing editor for Noteworthy Sheet Music and is a winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award.
“EarRelevant” called his playing “wonderfully smoky and mysterious,” while “ArtsFuse” wrote, “Bloom’s solos on flute and amplified flute are always highlights of a performance.”
Funkhouser has appeared with notables like Joe Lovano, Steve Gadd, Bobby Watson, Esperanza Spalding, Luciana Souza, Tierney Sutton, Geri Allen and Francisco Mela. Hailed by the “North Denver Tribune” for a “unique and engaging sound,” he has performed at Birdland, Blue Note, Dizzy’s in New York, the Kennedy Center, and in top venues from Kansas City, New Orleans, and Chicago to Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong. He taught at Berklee College of Music from 2001 to 2021.
“Funkhouser is masterful,…maintaining a delicate balance of power and agility with an instinctive musical sense,” according to AllAboutJazz.com.
Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies. The main campus is in Harrogate, Tennessee. For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423.869.6280 or email at admissions@LMUnet.edu.
