(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University presents “Where the Piano is the Main Attraction” on Saturday, May 6 at 7:00pm.“Stormin’ Norman” Seldin, Charlie Liu, Taksh Gupta, Nicholas Budny, and Vance Villastrigo will perform music from Bach to rock and jazz to ragtime. Tickets are $25 and $35 (with a Gold Circle seating option available for $50).
Appearing on the newly enhanced Pollak stage will be a genuine local legend; one whose impact on the Jersey Shore’s homegrown music scene cannot be overstated. Having staked out a career as a singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, promoter and record label owner when he was still in his teens, “Stormin’ Norman” Seldin has performed for audiences up and down the East Coast for more than 50 years — laying much of the groundwork for what would come to be known as the Sound of Asbury Park (SOAP), becoming the youngest member of the American Federation of Musicians at the age of thirteen, and along the way introducing listeners to a big young talent by the name of Clarence Clemons.
Still dazzling on the piano keys beneath his signature Western hat, the contemporary of Bruce Springsteen has also gained renown as a regional representative of Steinway and Sons company — a passionate ambassador of a majestic musical instrument, and a figure who’s as likely to be found demonstrating a limited-edition grand with a baroque arrangement of a classic-rock standard, as he is delivering his beloved Bourbon Street stride stylings and Delta blues vocals to a crowd of nocturnal revelers.
The spirit of Stormin’ Norman the Steinway man informs the concert that gets underway with a program of classical selections performed by a trio of celebrated piano prodigies — among them Princeton-based teenager Charlie Liu, a Steinway Society scholarship winner and a top finisher in numerous national and international competitions. Having performed for listeners that have ranged from rock royalty to real-life royals, Charlie’s mastery of the keys has been seen by millions through appearances on the Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres TV shows.
Having made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of six, West Windsor native Taksh Gupta is now a seasoned veteran of nine and, like young Mr. Liu, a student of the noted piano mentor Ingrid Clarfield. Completing the trio is another Princeton prodigy, Nicholas Budny, who made his own Carnegie bow in 2015 at the age of ten.
Switching gears for the second half of the Saturday program, Stormin’ Norman Seldin takes the bench at the Steinway and Sons Model D (furnished for the occasion by Jacobs Music of Lawrenceville) for a soulful set of originals and classic covers drawn from his decades-spanning career and encyclopedic musical memory. As a special treat, he’ll be joined by a fellow Shore area favorite entertainer — pianist, vocalist and ace accompanist Vance Villastrigo — for a set-within-a-set that could only be called “Dueling Pianos.”
Tickets for “Where the Piano is the Main Attraction” are priced at $25 and $35 (with a Gold Circle seating option available for $50), and can be reserved through the Monmouth University Performing Arts Box Office at 732-263-6889, or online at www.monmouth.edu/arts.
The Pollak Theatre is located at Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Ave in West Long Branch, NJ.
