Sensational award-winning New York City-based Israeli pianist, improvisor & composer swings back into the Rubber City with all-star trio for an evening of premier live jazz!
23-year old Israeli rising pianist, improvisor & composer, Guy Mintus, has performed on stages such as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, Red Sea Jazz Festival and the Israel Festival with Grammy winning artists such as Howard Levy, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra as well as Jazz legends Sheila Jordan, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Owens and more. Guy’s interest and passion to world music and to connecting people through cultural understanding has led him to interact with masters of several musical traditions: Persian Santur Master Qui Hagigi, Turkish Neyzen Volkan Incüvez, Greek Bouzouki master Yannis Loulourgas, African Kora Icon Yacouba Sissoko, Azerbeijani Kemança Master Arslan Hazreti, Pandit Samir Chatterjee and many more.
Guy’s recent awards include 2 ‘Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award’ and the “Fran Morgenstren Davis Scholarship” by ASCAP as well as two ‘DownBeat Magazine Student Awards’ for Outstanding Jazz Performance and Arrangement. Recent appearances include a solo concert, the “Mediterranean Piano”, at the International Samos Young Artists Festival, Greece, solo performance hosting the legendary Jon Hendricks at the Toledo Arts Museum and a performance at the Jewish Festival of Boulder, Colorado with the “Offlines Project”, a cross borders ensemble co-led with Turkish – Israeli percussionist, Oudist and composer Yinon Muallem.
By the age of 9, Guy was recognized as one of 1.5% exceptionally gifted children according to tests of the National Henrietta Szold Institute. At the same age, Guy started his musical journey on a Farfisa keyboard. At 13 years old, Guy started his lifelong fascination to jazz after listening to the album “Thelonious Himself” by Thelonious Monk. In 2009, Guy graduated from the prestigious “Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts,” as well as from the Israeli Conservatory’s Jazz department with honors. In both institutions, Guy was lucky to be closely mentored by the great Israeli Jazz educator, Amit Golan, god rest his soul, who’s passionate uncompromising spirit will forever remain a huge influence. After graduating from high school, Guy has joined the Israeli army in the status of “Outstanding Jazz Musician,” and at the same time, started his academic studies at the collaborative program of the “New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music” and the Israeli Conservatory. There, he won an award for excellence in performance and academics. In 2010, Guy attended the “Buchman Mehta School of Music,” Tel Aviv University, majoring in classical piano performance and composition. In 2012, Guy won the Dean’s award for exceptionally high academic achievements from the “Buchman Mehta School of Music,” Tel Aviv University. At the age of 21, Guy pursued his dream in moving to New York to perform in the city and study at the Manhattan School of Music’s elite jazz program – the MSM Jazz Institute, where he was recognized on the Dean’s list for high academic achievements.
In New York, Guy has so far studied with Johnny O’Neal, Vijay Iyer, Arturo O’Farrill and Samir Chatterjee and had the pleasure to share the stage/ record with a wide array of artists such as: Jimmy Owens, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Greg Osby, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Miles Okazaki, Dan Weiss, Johnny O’Neal, James Carter, Amir Elsaffar, NY Gypsy All Stars.
Get your tickets today to hear this sensational young pianist & his trio in their return to BLU, a not-to-miss special Sunday evening here in the Rubber City!