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Raritan Valley Community College’s Arts & Design department will present two concerts in March featuring the work of the College’s faculty and teaching artists.

A jazz concert highlighted by Eldad Tarmu, vibraphone, and Justin Lee, bass, both teachers in RVCC’s music program, is scheduled for Thursday, March 27, at 1 p.m. The event will be held in the Nash Theatre at the College’s Branchburg campus.

A second concert of classical music will be held Sunday, March 30, at 3 p.m., in RVCC’s Welpe Theatre. The event will showcase guest artists, viola virtuoso Brett Deubner and  pianist Blair McMillen, in a program that will feature the premiere of RVCC Professor John Sichel’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, as well as works by Hummel, Brahms, and George Gershwin.

Brett Deubner has appeared as a soloist with over 70 orchestras around the world.  He has contributed to the development of the viola repertoire, having premiered more than 80 new works by various composers, including Grammy winners Lalo Schifrin, Richard Danielpour, and Carlos Franzetti. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Deubner also has recorded 15 CDs.

Hailed by The New York Times as “prodigiously accomplished and exciting” and as one of the piano’s “brilliant stars,” Blair McMillen has forged a musical life that is unbounded by convention.  He is well known for his advocacy of living composers and contemporary music, as well as for championing very early keyboard music and more recent neglected masterpieces.  For more than two decades, McMillen has divided his time as piano soloist, chamber musician, music festival director, and educator/teacher. He studied at Oberlin College, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School.

RVCC vibraphonist and composer Eldad Tarmu has appeared with artists such as Freddy Hubbard, Taj Mahal, Poncho Sanchez, Ernie Watts, and Cybill Shepard.  He has performed in more than 25 countries around the world. He studied at Tel Aviv University and SUNY Stony Brook.

Bassist Justin Lee is a familiar figure in the New York Metropolitan area, having performed in Broadway pit orchestras, classical orchestras, and jazz ensembles. He also appeared in three episodes of the television show Mozart in the Jungle. Lee has two decades of experience teaching in New Jersey. An instructor of bass at RVCC, he also serves as assistant orchestra director and teacher of lower strings at JP Stevens High School in Edison.

General admission tickets for both concerts cost $12 each; admission is $8 for seniors. Students will be admitted free of charge. For advance ticket reservations, contact the RVCC Theatre Box Office at 908-725-3420. For additional information, email John Sichel at john.sichel@raritanval.edu.

RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 4, 2025

PR #65