Schedule of Events

Monday, February 11 at 7:30 PM

Helios Jazz Orchestra 

Music Center at St. Petersburg College

EMIT is presenting the Helios Jazz Orchestra in concert at the Music Center Center at St. Petersburg College on Tuesday, February 11! This is a free concert but donations are gladly accepted to help pay our musicians. The program will include Brazilian singer Andrea Moraes Manson and big band favorites by Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones, Cole Porter. Tom Jobim and others. This 18-piece big band has performed on the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Ybor Jazz Fest and St. Petersburg Jazz Festival and features the top jazz artists of Tampa Bay. The SPC Music is a 300-seat concert venue located at 6605 5th Ave. North in St. Petersburg.

Monday, March 31 at 7:30 PM

Tal Cohen Trio

Palladium Theater Side Door

"The Tal Cohen Trio manages to combine complex, modern jazz concepts with graceful phrasing, thoughtful development and honest expression. The original ideas, high level of communication and spontaneity of the group is a breath of fresh air and proof that jazz has a bright future” – David Manson, Director of EMIT & the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival

"Tal Cohen is among the best of a very few young inspired pianists I’ve encountered in my travels… Tal’s playing is full of passion, focus and creativity”- Joe Lovano 

Tickets are available at the Palladium Theater

Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 PM

Alexis Cole & Helios Jazz Orchestra

Palladium Theater Side Door

 “We’ve been waiting for the next great singer to come along, and finally…Alexis” – Swing Journal Japan

Called “one of the great voices of today,” Alexis Cole has been compared to classic jazz singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Anita O’Day. Her luxurious voice and innovative interpretations make her an instant favorite with audiences of all ages. Cole is the recipient of a Swing Journal Gold Disk award and was a winner of the NY Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Festival vocal competitions, and a finalist of the Sarah Vaughan Competition. She records for Motéma Music, NY, Chesky Records, NY and Venus Records, Japan. Her eleven recordings, which feature musical luminaries such as Fred Hersch, Eric Alexander, Matt Wilson, Harry Pickens, Don Braden and Pat LaBarbara, have received high praise in the jazz press and are spun on radio world-wide. In addition to her many performances at top jazz venues like Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, and Billboard Live, she’s also performed at Avery Fisher Hall and the Kennedy Center and had been a featured soloist with the Boston Pops and NY Philharmonic.  Tickets are available at the Palladium Theater

Helios Jazz Orchestra

In its 15th season, the 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. David Manson, has been featured on the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, and Ybor Jazz Festival. It is comprised of top area jazz musicians who love the sound of a roaring jazz big band!

Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 PM

Uri Gurvich-Rodolfo Zuniga Quartet

Palladium Theater Side Door

“Transcends borders” - LA Times 

NYC based saxophonist, Uri Gurvich, and LA based drummer, Rodolfo Zuniga, have been collaborating for many years on numerous projects and perform regularly in Europe, South America and the States. Gurvich and Zuniga, both composers and critically acclaimed bandleaders on their own, decided to join forces for this special Quartet where they can workshop and present their original, global-influenced, contemporary jazz, mainly evoking elements from their native countries, Israel and Costa Rica. 

Since their arrival in New York and Los Angeles, Uri and Rodolfo have individually collaborated with many notable jazz artists such as: Esperanza Spalding, John Zorn, Billy Cobham, Mingus Big Band, Lionel Loueke, Elio Villafranca, Avishai Cohen, Jorge Rossy, Paquito D'Rivera, Uri Caine, Anat Cohen, Gary Campbell, Ira Sullivan, Bill Mays, Stephen Scott, Troy Roberts, Bill Cunliffe, Martin Bejerano, Camila Meza, John Hart, Michael Dease, and many others. Tickets are available at the Palladium Theater

Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 PM

The Pershounin Quartet

Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement

Bassist Alex Pershounin brings his world-class Pershounin Quartet to St. Petersburg for a unique concert of his original compositions inspired from Latin, Jazz, World and Folk music. Artists on this concert include Alex Pershounin (bass), José Valentino (flute& percussion), Silviu Ciulei (acoustic guitar) and Derris Lee (drums & percussion). The program includes works like "Tales of the East" transporting the audience into the West African polyrhythmic environment, exploring multiple meters and microtonal melodies inspired by the mugham techniques of the Azerbaijani tradition."Song for Daniel" draws upon the rhythmically driving texture of the Brazilian samba while “Chernie” is inspired by Russian folk music fusing improvisation with progressive tempo acceleration and intensity.

Alexander Pershounin has been hailed as a versatile virtuoso bassist equally fluent in classical, jazz, and commercial music settings. He has performed on Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, Europe’s Jazz Contest in Belgium, and New Orleans Jazz Fest, among many others. His performing credits include Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Bob Berg and Ray Charles to Itzhac Perlman and Yo Yo Ma. He also has recorded several commercially released albums as a soloist and ensemble musician. Dr. Pershounin teaches bass at the University of Florida.

Celebrated for his cross-genre versatility and renowned as a premier multi-instrumentalist, José Valentino joins the MAACM as a flutist and percussionist. The world’s most awarded global music flutist, Valentino has performed across Latin America, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe, Africa, the U.S., the Caribbean, and Canada. A multi-Latin GRAMMY Award winner and nominee, he was most recently nominated for 2024 Best Instrumental Album of the Year for Claude Bolling Goes Latin. Dr. Valentino is co-chair of Music Business and Entrepreneurship program at the University of Florida.

LATIN GRAMMY award artist, Silviu Octavian Ciulei, was born in Constanta, Romania. Silviu has been a top prizewinner in some of the world’s most prestigious competitions including Guitar Foundation of America’s International Concert Artist Competition, Schadt String Competition, and Parkening International Guitar Competition in Malibu, CA. Silviu is also an acclaimed flamenco guitarist having studied flamenco in Andalucia, Spain. Silviu speaks five languages fluently, is chief editor for Guitar Magazine Online, and is a flamenco singer/lead guitarist with the Maharajah Flamenco Trio. Dr. Ciulei is currently Director of Guitar Studies at the University of Florida.

Derris Lee’s diverse journey in the music industry as drummer, percussionist, composer and producer has been adorned with international awards including a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Children’s Album, an ANTHEM Award for Education, Art, & Culture, three AMCP AVA Digital Awards, ten Global Music Awards, 2024 Downbeat Student Music Award and was an Associate Producer for the album, “Rompiendo Fronteras” by Alex Acuña and José Valentino. Derris is currently a Delores Auzenne Research Fellow at the University of South Florida.

Admission is $30 in advance, $35 at the door available at the MAACM website: https://my.museumaacm.org/2495/2860

Date: February 11 - April 3, 2025

Location: 

St. Petersburg College - 244 2nd Ave. N, Room DC316 Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 

Palladium Theater - 253 5th Avenue North Saint Petersburg, FL 33701

Museum of Fine Arts & American Stage - 355 4th St N, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701

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