Celebrating Composer Frank Ezra Levy

Ars Vitalis: The New Jersey New Music Forum at Kean University will celebrate the life of one of New Jersey’s most prolific composers, Frank Ezra Levy (1930-2017), on Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m., at Kean’s Enlow Recital Hall in Hillside. Admission to the performance is free and open to the public.

Matthew Halper, DMA, artistic director of Ars Vitalis and and professor of music at Kean, emphasized the special connection between the University and Levy.

“Levy twice served as our Concert Artist composer-in-residence,” said Halper. “He composed several significant works for Kean’s Concert Artist program, including his dramatic Piano Quintet, which will conclude this celebratory program.”

Halper said that the depth and poignancy of Levy’s musical style will be showcased in this chamber music concert, including a posthumous world-premiere for cello and percussion performed by the Percussion Ensemble at Kean University (PEAK).

Levy has an expansive catalog of compositions featuring more than 200 published works, including 18 symphonies, 22 string quartets, and many other orchestral, vocal and chamber works.

Prominent performers from the New York metropolitan area and as far as Switzerland, all whom have worked with Levy, are on the roster. They include: Timon Altwegg, piano; Hana Gubenko, viola; Scott Ballantyne, cello; Hiroko Sasaki, piano; George Marriner Maull, conductor; Rebekah Johnson, violin; Anthony Scelba, bass; James Musto, percussion; and PEAK.

The featured artists and invited guests from the classical music world will be in attendance and will meet and greet audience members at a post-concert reception. 

No tickets are required for the performance or the reception. 

The Eugene and Shelley Enlow Recital Hall is located on Kean University’s East Campus at 215 North Avenue in Hillside, N.J. For more information, visit www.keanstage.com or call (908) 737-7469.