Peter Cincotti, the 20-year old pianist and singer who is being hailed as a star in the making, brings his trio to William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, September 28 for the first concert of the fall 2003 Jazz Room Series.

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne. Tickets are available in advance or on the day of the performance at $12 standard and $9 for senior citizens, non-William Paterson students and William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni. William Paterson students may attend free of charge.

Prior to the concert, Cincotti and his trio will be the guests for "Sittin’ In," an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 p.m. in room 101 of Shea Center. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticketholders.
Cincotti, a student at Columbia University, is on the verge of an extraordinary recording career, beginning with his self-titled Concord Records debut produced by the legendary Phil Ramone. Ramone calls Cincotti "the freshest old soul to come along in ages."

Born and raised in Manhattan, Cincotti started tinkering with a toy piano his grandmother gave him at age three, then graduated to the real thing a year or so later. At the age of nine, he began composing, and in his mid-teens took up singing. Over the next several years, he studied with several jazz piano masters, including James Williams, director of jazz studies and an associate professor at William Paterson.
While still in high school, Cincotti played in jazz clubs throughout Manhattan, starred in the off-Broadway hit, Our Sinatra, participated in the National Grammy band, was honored in a John Lennon Songwriting contest, and was invited to perform at the White House.

He also won a coveted award at the Montreaux 2000 Jazz Festival in Switzerland for his piano rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s "A Night in Tunisia." And in the spring of 2001, he was the youngest performer ever to play the famed Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.

Launched in 1978, The Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, from practitioners of traditional jazz to avant-garde to bebop to swing to Afro-Latin jazz – as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its innovative programming.

For more information, call Shea Center for Performing Arts Box Office at 973-720-2371.
NOTE: A high resolution, downloadable publicity photograph of Peter Cincotti is available at: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/pub-info/photos/index.htm

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For Further Information, contact:

Mary Beth Zeman, Director, Public Relations 973-720-2966

9/4/03