Newton Piano Summit
2026 Season
Eight free concerts · March 14–22 · Second Church, West Newton. Performance videos coming soon.
Season at a glance
| Date | Performance |
|---|---|
| Sat Mar 14 | Maxim Lubarsky — classical foundations, jazz improvisation |
| Sat Mar 14 | Hidemi Akaiwa — contemporary keys with a Zen-informed center |
| Sun Mar 15 | Jesse Taitt — new horizons, fresh and bold |
| Sun Mar 15 | Liz Sinn — fearless groove, deep harmony |
| Sat Mar 21 | Hélio Alves — Brazilian jazz piano |
| Sat Mar 21 | Lee Fish & Friends — jazz, soul, and folk |
| Sun Mar 22 | Kikoski & Tsiganov — two-piano season finale |
Saturday, March 14
Maxim Lubarsky: Classical Foundations, Jazz Improvisation, and Contemporary Projects
Maxim Lubarsky is no stranger to Newton, having appeared at many of the major venues in the city and across the Greater Boston region. Known for his range across genres—whether accompanying opera singers, performing with Eastern European ensembles, playing straight-ahead jazz, or working in Latin and salsa settings—he brings a flexible, stylistically literate approach to each musical context. Limited by COVID to performing online for the Summit in 2020, we welcome him and his all-star trio to the live stage to kick off our 2026 season.
From Odessa, Ukraine, he is renowned for his stylistic versatility and deep musicality. Trained as a classical pianist at the prestigious Stolyarsky School and Odessa State Conservatory, he later discovered his passion for jazz, founding the award-winning group, Art Session. After touring internationally and performing with the Odessa State Symphony, he moved to the U.S. upon receiving a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Joanne Brackeen, Danilo Pérez, Hal Crook, and Joe Lovano.
Lubarsky has collaborated with artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dave Liebman, Gabrielle Goodman, and Grace Kelly, and leads multiple ensembles, including his own quartet and the Latin jazz group TRIAD. He has performed and taught across Europe, South Africa, China, and the United States, appearing at festivals such as Cambridge Jazz Festival, Black Sea Jazz Weekend (Ukraine), Diacetum Festival (Italy), Art Naples (FL), Jazz on the Edge (Israel) and the Spoleto Festival (USA), where he appeared as a soloist performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with orchestra. Currently based in Boston, Maxim tours globally, conducts masterclasses, and serves as an Associate Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music. maximlubarsky.com
Boston legend bassist John Lockwood, known for his tasteful and reliably rock-solid playing across jazz and orchestral settings, is literally the first-call bassist in the region. He has toured in the U.S. and Europe with artists and groups including Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton, the Mel Lewis Big Band, and the Fringe.
His performance credits include appearances with Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Toots Thielemans, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, and organizations such as the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, and the MIT Symphony. It is no surprise that he has performed more times at the Summit than any other bassist and will be featured throughout this season.
Completing the trio is Brazilian drummer Rafael Barata, who performs three times this season — see his full bio under the March 21 concert with Hélio Alves.
Saturday, March 14
Hidemi Akaiwa: Contemporary keys with a Zen-informed center
Hidemi Akaiwa is a keyboardist and composer whose work brings together Japanese aesthetics, microtonal practice, and improvisation within jazz and contemporary music settings. Her performance at the 2023 Piano Summit was jaw-dropping. She pushed the boundaries of music in ways most people had never heard before. The comments kept pouring in, so we had to have her back.
She began piano study in early childhood and later shifted from a corporate career to focus on music, enrolling at Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship. At Berklee, she participated in the Global Jazz Institute, the Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, the Planet MicroJam Institute, and the Interdisciplinary Arts Institute and received the Toshiko Akiyoshi Composition Award.
Her training has included study with Danilo Pérez, Kenny Werner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Billy Childs, and David Fiuczynski, among others. Akaiwa is also associated with projects that emphasize microtonal and cross-cultural approaches to improvisation, including Japanese MicroJam.
In recent years, she has continued expanding her performance and recording activity, including the 2024 release Processes (with Evan Palmer and Francisco Mela). She has also pursued graduate study at New England Conservatory in Contemporary Musical Arts (MM ’25). Instagram
Joining Hidemi will be Lemuel Marc on trumpet, Evan Palmer on bass, and Francisco Mela on drums.
Lemuel Marc is a trumpeter-composer and New England Conservatory (NEC) alumnus whose work moves comfortably between jazz, contemporary composition, and open improvisation. His debut release, Replace the Population, came out on Relative Pitch Records, and he’s also known for projects under the moniker Your Biggest Hater (plus the duo Katie x YBH).
Links: NEC feature • Relative Pitch – Replace the Population • Lemuel Marc Bandcamp
Cuban-born drummer, percussionist, and bandleader Francisco Mela is internationally recognized for his Afro-Cuban-rooted, modern-jazz approach and elite-level collaborations. He has been closely associated with Joe Lovano (including the quintet Us Five) and McCoy Tyner, and is also a long-time faculty member at Berklee College of Music.
Brooklyn-based bassist, composer, and educator Evan Palmer is active across the NYC/New England improvised-music scenes and is the leader of multiple recording projects. Palmer’s trio album Processes (with Francisco Mela and Hidemi Akaiwa) was released in December 2024, and his background includes Berklee College of Music studies and a growing discography as leader/co-leader. evanpalmermusic.com
Sunday, March 15
Jesse Taitt: New horizons, taking chances, fresh and bold
Jesse Taitt is a multifaceted pianist, composer, arranger, and educator with a rich, dynamic musical journey rooted in both classical discipline and contemporary jazz artistry. He holds a dual degree in Jazz Composition and Professional Music from Berklee College of Music, and earned a Master of Music (2017) in Jazz Arranging and Composition from William Paterson University.
Taitt’s musical foundation began at Boston Arts Academy, where he studied classical piano with Boston Conservatory Professor Harriet Lundberg and explored jazz/contemporary music through the Berklee City Music Program. Over the course of his development, he has engaged with a wide range of notable artists through lessons, mentorship, master classes, and collaborations, including Dr. Billy Taylor, George Duke, Joanne Brackeen, Geri Allen, Regina Carter, Hugh Masekela, Bill Charlap, Vincent Herring, Cecil Bridgewater, Phillip Bailey, Patrice Rushen, Mark Gross, and others—reflecting the breadth of influence that informs his playing, writing, and teaching.
An active presence in the Boston music scene, Taitt has served as music director for the Boston-based group Jazz Urbane, leads the Jesse Taitt Trio, and has performed with ensembles including the Boston Pops, with additional appearances alongside major artists spanning jazz, R&B, and popular music.
Internationally, he was recognized as an International Guest Artist in Rwanda (2013), where he led master classes, headlined the Kigali UP Festival, and collaborated with artists including Joey Blake (Bobby McFerrin). His work also reflects a sustained commitment to service and education, including roles as an AmeriCorps Community Leader, Public Allies Leader, and Artist-Educator with Boston Arts Academy’s Alumni Creative Core program.
Taitt currently serves as Assistant Professor in Berklee’s Harmony and Jazz Composition Department, Lecturer of Jazz Piano at Dartmouth College, and Coach/Piano Collaborator at Wellesley College, continuing to expand his creative horizons as a performer, composer, and mentor. His trio includes Youngchae Jeong on bass and Lee Fish on drums (see March 21, where Lee Fish is headlining).
Youngchae Jeong is a Seoul-born bassist and composer based in the Boston area, with key milestones including graduating from Berklee College of Music (2018) and completing the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (2024). He returns to the Summit after an amazing concert in 2023 with Utar Artun. He has shared the stage with notable artists including Ralph Peterson Jr., Neal Smith, Javon Jackson, Darren Barrett, Russell Taylor, and Jonathan Hoard, and has appeared at major venues in Boston and beyond (including Scullers, Regattabar, Wally’s, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and MFA Boston). As a leader/composer, his 2025 release Caught in the Wind spotlights his writing alongside his performing voice.
Sunday, March 15
Liz Sinn: Fearless groove. Deep harmony. Boston-made.
Pianist Liz Sinn has been turning heads since she started playing in the region. She is a gifted composer and arranger and is a highly in-demand collaborator across Greater New England. A versatile artist with a strong jazz foundation, she also performs and writes in styles spanning classical, Latin American music, musical theater, and pop. Sinn has been affiliated with Berklee College of Music since 2020, where she has studied on a full-tuition scholarship and pursued a double major that includes performance alongside contemporary writing/production. During her time at Berklee, she has worked with major artists and educators including Kenny Barron, Joanne Brackeen, Neal Smith, and Billy Kilson, and has been featured in Berklee-presented performances ranging from intimate trio work to large-ensemble writing. Active on the local scene, she appears regularly in club and concert settings as both a leader and side musician, bringing an expressive touch, strong rhythmic drive, and an arranger’s clarity to every project.
Her trio includes Jack Davies on bass, Nicholas Brust on saxophone and Lee Fish on drums.
Jack Davies is a Toronto-born bassist, educator, and bandleader who studied performance at Berklee College of Music, presenting his “Jack Davies & Friends” recital in Boston. Active as a performer and teacher, he also releases original work and recordings under his own name.
Nicholas Brust is a Boston-based saxophonist, composer, and bandleader with a growing national profile, recognized for writing strong melodies and a clear, modern voice on the horn. He is also on faculty at New England Conservatory, where his work as a performer and educator is featured by the school.
Lee Fish is a Boston-born drummer and composer now active on the Brooklyn/NYC scene, noted by DownBeat as “a dextrous young drummer.” During and after his Berklee years he became a fixture at Wally’s Café, collaborating with artists including Jason Palmer, Esperanza Spalding, Nadia Washington, and Evgeny Lebedev, and he continues to appear with his own projects and as a sought-after sideman. Lee is also headlining this year’s Summit with his own group.
Saturday, March 21
Hélio Alves: Brazilian Jazz Piano in New York
The Summit is incredibly lucky to have convinced the legendary Hélio Alves to perform. Brazilian pianist from São Paulo, he has been based in New York City since the 1990s. His work sits at the intersection of modern Brazilian repertoire and contemporary jazz, with a career shaped by long-term collaboration as much as by leadership projects.
Alves moved to the United States at 18 to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he completed his degree and began building his professional network before relocating to New York. In New York, he became a sought-after sideman, performing and recording with Joe Henderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D’Rivera, Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, Sadao Watanabe, Slide Hampton, Joyce, and Rosa Passos.
Alongside extensive sideman work, Alves has released many recordings under his own name and led ensembles that highlight the rhythmic and harmonic language of Brazilian jazz. He shares this vocabulary through educational work, including a Brazilian jazz piano course with Open Studio. helioalvesmusic.net
Gili Lopes is a Brazilian bassist and composer based in New York City. His work reflects a long arc of study and professional activity across Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the U.S., with an emphasis on original music.
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Lopes began on bass as a teenager and built early experience performing locally. In his early twenties, he moved to London to focus on upright bass, completing Jazz Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He spent a decade working as a freelance musician in the U.K., then continued his academic studies in Berlin, earning a master’s degree in composition and arrangement at the Jazz Institute/Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK).
As a performer, Lopes has appeared internationally in venues and festivals including Ronnie Scott’s, Queen Elizabeth Hall, SummerStage in Central Park, the London Jazz Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He released Algures (2024), with original compositions alongside music by Wayne Shorter and Milton Nascimento. linktr.ee/gililopes
Rafael Barata is a Brazilian drummer, percussionist, and producer, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Barata’s playing is known for bringing the fire and passion with meticulous time and forms, and an ability to move seamlessly between straight-ahead jazz phrasing and Brazilian groove-oriented approaches. He began playing drums at age five and started studio work as a teenager.
His credits include collaborations with Emilio Santiago, Rosa Passos, Eliane Elias (including the Grammy-winning Made in Brazil), Marc Johnson, Kenny Barron, Edu Lobo, Leny Andrade, Lisa Ono, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Antonia Bennett, Esperanza Spalding, Christian McBride, Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, and other major figures across Brazilian and American scenes. In addition to performing, he maintains an active presence as an educator and producer. He appears three times this season — March 14, here on the 21st, and in the finale on the 22nd. rafaelbarata.com
Saturday, March 21
Lee Fish & Friends, featuring Niri Nedoma, Max Ridley, and Edmar Colon: A distilled blend of Jazz, Soul, and Folk
Lee Fish is a Boston-born drummer and composer now based in New York City. While at Berklee College of Music, he was a regular presence on Boston bandstands—especially at Wally’s—working in ensembles led by artists such as Jason Palmer and alongside musicians including Esperanza Spalding, Nadia Washington, and Evgeny Lebedev. He returns to the Summit after his performance with Anastassiya Petrova in 2025.
Since relocating to New York in 2018, Fish has continued as a working drummer and has also developed projects under his own name, with performances cited at venues including The Jazz Gallery and Birdland. leefishmusic.com
Jiří (“Niri”) Nedoma was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He began piano lessons at age five. After high school, Nedoma enrolled at the Conservatory of Jaroslav Ježek in Prague, where he pursued classical and jazz studies concurrently. During this time, he became a member of the Czech Radio Big Band, performing with jazz and pop artists across Europe. He was also a finalist in Belgium’s Jazz Hoeilaart International Contest as a member of the Ondřej Štveráček Quartet, and was selected as one of two musicians to represent the Czech Republic at a Visegrad Alliance meeting of four Central European states.
Nedoma later received a scholarship through Berklee College of Music’s World Scholarship Tour and moved to Boston. He earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Berklee and received the Claire Beskind Award for outstanding achievement and contributions to the Piano Department. He completed a master’s degree at New England Conservatory with support from the Helena Foundation Presidential Scholarship. His studies at Berklee and NEC included work with Fred Hersch, Jerry Bergonzi, Joanne Brackeen, Jason Moran, Phil Wilson, and Hal Crook.
As a performer, he has appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Beantown Jazz Festival, and San José Jazz Festival, and has played venues and halls such as Jordan Hall, Berklee Performance Center, Smalls, ShapeShifter Lab, Jazz Dock, Regattabar, Scullers Jazz Club, and Wally’s Jazz Club. He has collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington, Hal Crook, and Donna McElroy, and recorded with artists including Gabrielle Goodman, Albino Mbie, Jeannie Gagné, and Nadia Washington. His recording with vocalist Yvonne Sanchez, My Garden, received nominations in the Czech Republic for Album of the Year and Jazz Record of the Year.
Based in New England, Nedoma remains active as a performer, accompanist, arranger, and educator, bringing a flexible approach across acoustic piano and keyboards. jirinedoma.com
Edmar Noé Colón Gierbolini is a Puerto Rican-born saxophonist, pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. He is a Berklee Presidential Scholarship recipient, completing studies that combine performance with classical composition, and later earning a master’s degree in Global Studies through the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.
As a performer, Colón has appeared at major jazz festivals including Detroit, Puerto Rico Heineken, Toronto, Panama, and Montreal. He also works behind the scenes as an arranger/orchestrator; profiles credit him with arranging and orchestrating work connected to Grammy-recognized projects including Esperanza Spalding’s 12 Little Spells and Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards. edmarcolon.com
Max Ridley is a Boston-based bassist, composer, and educator whose work bridges straight-ahead swing, open improvisation, and the punk-rooted DIY spirit that first pulled him into making music. His earliest musical memories are literally in the audience—watching his mother sing with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and imitating the Boston Pops conductor—followed by formative exposure to opera through his father’s work with the Boston Opera Company.
Ridley’s trajectory accelerated at Boston Arts Academy, where he fell hard for jazz and the upright bass and was selected to perform at Boston’s Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops three years in a row—an early milestone that foreshadowed a career built on both craft and connection. During the same period, he became part of Berklee City Music, traveling to New York to play for Quincy Jones and his foundation, and earning full-tuition scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study at Berklee College of Music.
He completed his graduate degree at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the direction of pianist, educator, and humanitarian Danilo Pérez, while also absorbing a second, equally important education at Boston’s historic Wally’s Jazz Café, where he grew into a first-call sideman and became house bassist on Fridays and Saturdays for trumpeter and mentor Jason Palmer.
As a performer, Ridley has shared the stage with artists including Terri Lyne Carrington, George Garzone, Kenny Werner, Ingrid Jensen, Perico Sambeat, Kris Davis, Walter Smith III, and Francisco Mela, and has appeared at venues such as the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Umbria Jazz Festival. He is also music director for tap-dance company Subject:Matter, and remains active as a leader and collaborator across New England and beyond.
Sunday, March 22
East Meets East: Kikoski and Tsiganov in an explosive Summit finale
Grammy-winning jazz pianist David Kikoski is one of those artists revered by musicians worldwide, even if he’s less known to the general public. He is one of New York’s most in-demand improvisers, celebrated for his blistering swing feel, fearless harmonic imagination, and lyrical touch at the piano. Since arriving on the New York scene in the mid-1980s, he has been a first-call collaborator for masters such as Roy Haynes, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Pat Metheny, and the Mingus Big Band, as well as leading voices including George Garzone, Red Rodney, Craig Handy, Ralph Moore, Joe Locke, Didier Lockwood, Seamus Blake, Alex Sipiagin, Christian McBride, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and many others—all while building an acclaimed discography as a leader that now spans more than twenty albums.
Rooted in the jazz tradition yet constantly pushing it forward, Kikoski moves effortlessly from hard-swinging bop to lush ballads, from rhythmically daring trio interplay to high-octane large-ensemble work. His playing has drawn praise from peers and press alike: Chick Corea lauded “the brilliant playing of David Kikoski” that “just smokes,” and The New York Times has described him as a pianist of “broad experience and even broader capability.”
Kikoski’s recordings highlight the range of his artistry, from early trio dates to recent acclaimed releases such as Consequences, Phoenix Rising, and Sure Thing, which showcase both his original writing and his daring reimagining of standards. As a key member of the Mingus Big Band, he appears on their Grammy-winning Live at the Jazz Standard, and his work with Roy Haynes on Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker—alongside an all-star lineup of modern jazz greats—earned a Grammy nomination and further cemented his status as one of the defining pianists of his generation.
David appears here in a special duo encounter with Alexei Tsiganov, the phenomenally inventive pianist and vibraphonist known for blending his Russian roots with Latin grooves and modern jazz, creating a fiery, conversational interplay at the keyboard.
Alexei Tsiganov has earned a strong reputation as a top jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he began piano studies as a child and quickly emerged as a rising star, winning top honors in national jazz competitions. In 1991, Tsiganov moved to the United States to deepen his artistry, studying at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.
Since making New England his home, Tsiganov has become a vital contributor to the region’s creative music scene. He has performed with virtually every major local jazz artist, led countless ensembles, run regular sessions, and inspired students through teaching and mentoring. His leadership helped launch the Newton Piano Summit, a premier regional jazz festival showcasing top-tier talent in a community setting.
A sought-after performer, Tsiganov has appeared at renowned venues such as the Regattabar, Jazz Standard, and the Museum of Fine Arts. He has shared the stage with jazz luminaries such as Claudio Roditi, Antonio Sanchez, Esperanza Spalding, Jerry Bergonzi, and Donny McCaslin. As a bandleader, he blends modern jazz with Latin and Brazilian influences through original compositions and dynamic improvisation. He teaches at both Berklee and the New England Conservatory, shaping the next generation of jazz voices.
John Lockwood and Rafael Barata join David and Alexei for this finale.