Subscription Renewal Price: $200
To renew, 2026 subscribers can either:
1) go online and log in to your Lesher Center account; then, under “My Account” select “Fixed packages”
2) call the Ticket Office at 925-943-7469
3) visit the Ticket Office in person
.
Renewal deadline: July 1, 2026 (we will hold your current seats until then)
New Subscription Price: $225
Make a tax-deduction donation (thank you!)
All 2027 concerts will be in the 297-seat Margaret Lesher Theatre in the Lesher Center for the Arts.
Single tickets to all concerts, priced at $75 each, will be available starting July 1, 2026.
At age nine Chestnut was enrolled in the prep program at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. He later headed to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received the Eubie Blake fellowship, the Oscar Peterson scholarship, and the Quincy Jones scholarship.
After graduating from Berklee in 1985, Chestnut went on to work with vocalist Jon Hendricks and trumpeter Terrence Blanchard before joining jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. He toured for two years as the pianist for the Betty Carter Trio and has often said that playing with Carter was a form of graduate school.
By 1994, Chestnut had graduated from being an accompanist and band member by forming and leading his own trio, then releasing his major label debut album Revelations. The album, voted Best Jazz Album by the Village Voice, soared on the charts.
Chestnut has worked with such leading artists as saxophonists Donald Harrison and Joe Lovano; trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Freddie Hubbard; pianist Chick Corea, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and opera singer Kathleen Battle, as well as vocalists Vanessa Williams, Anita Baker, Bette Midler and Isaac Hayes.
Today he tours continually, playing at jazz festivals, clubs and concert halls around the world. He is a first call for the piano chair in such groups as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band.
Called a jazz singer with a rock star vibe, Kandace Springs is unquestionably both one of the top young artists today and a blazer of many trails. Starting her working life in Nashville parking cars, she now is a crackerjack mechanic and collector of the vehicles. She spent her high school years absorbing both jazz and classical standards by ear and intuition. Early on, her incandescent talent attracted the attention of Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, hitmaking songwriters and producers (Jennifer Holliday, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna etc.) who shepherded her rise to stardom. Soon she was signed to Blue Note Records and appearing on “The Late Show with David Letterman”, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.
Then, amazingly, a video of hers caught the eye of Prince, who reached out to her and this blossomed into a close mentorship, which elevated her to a new level. Kandace was soon performing as featured vocalist at such storied venues as London’s Royal Albert Hall as well as headlining at the Saratoga, London, Newport, and Monterey jazz festivals, An appearance with Christian McBride and Joshua Redman at the Istanbul Jazz Festival led to McBride’s appearance on her album “The Women Who Raised Me”, which also featured contributions from friends Norah Jones and David Sanborn.
In addition, Ms Springs has starred in her own hour-long PBS special and won Germany’s Deutscher Jazzpreis in 2020 for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Hers is a rare talent.
Bria Skonberg is a Juno-award winning artist, a ten-time Downbeat Rising Star, recipient of the Legend Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and a 2025 nominee for the European “Academie du Jazz” awards. The trumpeter, vocalist, and songwriter has been called the “shining hope of hot jazz”(NY Times) and is considered “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation”(WSJ).
She has been a featured artist at hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz Heritage, Kobe, Monterey, Breda, Newport and Montreal Jazz Festivals and recently at Carnegie Hall. Her debut LP on Sony Masterworks reached #5 on the Billboard Jazz charts and her studio album “What it Means” was recorded in New Orleans and received a rare 5-star Downbeat review. Her music has been streamed a jawdropping 25 million times.
A professional band leader since her teens growing up in British Columbia, Canada, she moved to Vancouver and obtained her degree in Trumpet Performance from Capilano University. Since arriving in New York in 2010 she has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages on behalf of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz House Kids and more. She is a co-producer of the NY Hot Jazz Camp, now in its 11th year.
Warren Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, Maryland. From the age of three, he was trained on the vibraphone, drums, and piano under his father’s guidance.
Warren attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduation, he became an active musician on the Boston scene—also teaching at Berklee. Today, living in Baltimore, he is a music professor both at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the San Francisco Conservatory. Warren has performed throughout the United States, South America, Canada, Italy, Spain, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Scotland, London, Greece, Singapore, Thailand, Jarkata, Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow and many other countries.
Warren has made several recordings as a leader and as sideman for Mack Ave Records, Blue Note Records and boutique Independent Jazz Record Labels. Musicians that Warren has performed or recorded with are Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Jeremy Pelt, Nicholas Payton, Tim Warfield, Adonis Rose, Donal Fox, Anthony Wonsey, Aaron Goldberg, Cyrus Chestnut, Lewis Nash, Willie Jones, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Yoron Israel, Larry Willis, David “Fathead” Newman, Stefon Harris, Reuben Rogers, Kevin Eubanks, Curtis Lundy, Steve Davis, Duane Eubanks, Ron Carter, Wycliffe Gordon, Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spaulding and many others.
Wolf’s group for this performance will feature guest vocalist Imani-Grace Cooper, a rising star who has already appeared with such artists as Dianne Reeves, Esperanza Spalding, and Al Jarreau.
