Giving Thanks

'Giving Thanks' Featuring Classical, Jazz, and Popular American Standards

Litchfield Performing Arts & Milton Congregational Church Present "Giving Thanks"

Come celebrate with us the Inaugural Concert of "Milton Music" - a new music series in Litchfield’s historic Milton Congregational Church AND its new 1898 Steinway Grand Piano. The concert stars Father and Son duo, Blair, piano and Conor, violin in a program of classical, jazz, and American popular standards.

A reception follows the concert and all are welcome.

All tickets are complimentary but Free Will Donations are welcome to help fund the series.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to enjoy wonderful music and company! Please respond early as the Church cannot accommodate more than 100 guests.

Pianist Blair McMillen was hailed by the New York Times as “prodigiously accomplished and exciting” and one of piano’s “brilliant stars.” He is well-known for his advocacy of living composers and contemporary music and for championing very early keyboard music and neglected masterpieces. His recent engagements include concertos with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, The Orchestra Now, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and a 3-week solo tour of Brazil sponsored by the US State Department. Blair has performed in major concert venues including Carnegie's Zankel Hall, the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. From 2012-2023, Blair co-directed the Rite of Summer Music Festival on Governors Island.

A graduate of Juilliard, Oberlin and Manhattan School of Music, Blair serves on the faculties of Mannes, Juilliard, and Bard College/Conservatory. These days, He can be heard regularly Brooklyn’s Bargemusic.

Violinist Conor McMillen joins his father on our program. At 16, Conor has already won a DownBeat Magazine JazzSoloist Student Award and this year’s National YoungArts competition and First Place Prize in the inaugural Litchfield Jazz Camp Talent Search. He has performed at Carnegie's Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Lincoln Center. At 11, interested in improvisation, he joined the JALC Academy and, at 14, began studying at the internationally renowned Litchfield Jazz Camp.  

His most recent performances include WQXR/WNYC's "Young Artists Showcase,” alongside his dad, and the Litchfield Jazz Presents series at the Palace Theater Poli Club with the Don Braden Quartet. His Litchfield Jazz Camp Combo opened for Grammy-winning vocalist Samara Joy at the 2022 Litchfield Jazz Festival. Currently a junior at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, Conor also plays the double bass in jazz ensembles and the school orchestra.  Today, he studies jazz violin with Grammy Nominated violinist Ben Sutin.

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