The Big Broadcast featured in The Republican

http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/02/big_broadcast.html

The Big Broadcast featured in PRIME

The Big Broadcast is featured in the March edition of PRIME, a Reminder Publications monthly for the 55+ set.

http://www.primeontheweb.com/travel/mountholyokejazzen/

Thank you to Loomis Communities

The good people at Loomis Communities are sponsors of "The Big Broadcast" by the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College. They also are helping with the promotion.

http://www.loomiscommunities.org/whats_new/show/137

Press Release: Suffield Academy Students Volunteer at NEPR Winter Fund Drive

Tune in to New England Public Radio (88.5FM/WFCR) on WED 2/29 during "All Things Considered" (4:30PM-6:30PM).

SUFFIELD ACADEMY STUDENTS AND STAFF TO VOLUNTEER AT NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO WINTER FUND DRIVE ON FEBRUARY 29

Suffield, CT--A group of students, faculty, and staff are volunteering to help answer phones and take pledges for the New England Public Radio’s Winter Fund Drive on Wednesday, February 29, during the broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” from 4:30PM-6:30PM on 88.5FM/WFCR in the Hartford/Springfield area.

“Community service is part of both Suffield Academy’s mission and its leadership program”, says Suffield Academy Headmaster Charlie Cahn. “Our students will have the opportunity to both volunteer to support public broadcasting and see the inner workings of a radio station in their home studio on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.”

New England Public Radio’s Winter Fund Drive, “Root for Your Radio: Make a Pledge, Plant A Tree” supports the programs and services of the NPR member station which serves Western New England from studios in Amherst, MA and Springfield, MA. For each pledge received, a consortium of nurseries and garden supply stores will plant one tree in NEPR’s listening area, where the 2011 tornado, floods of Storm Irene, and the October snows destroyed many trees. For information on New England Public Radio: www.nepr.net.

Suffield Academy, founded in 1833, is an independent, co-educational college preparatory school for boarding and day students on its campus in Suffield, CT. Suffield Academy has a tradition of academic excellence combined with a strong work ethic and leadership building programs. For information on Suffield Academy’s programs and services: www.suffieldacademy.org.

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Berkshire Film Commission

I've been assisting The Berkshire Film Commission in exploratory discussions to see if their product and services can expand to all of Western Massachusetts.

The Berkshire Film and Media Commission is a non-profit dedicated to helping national film-makers, videographers, and new media folks make their movies in WMass. They connect those making movies, documentaries, and commercials with those who can provide technical support, from costuming to catering; from sound and light to staffing and limos.

If you know WMass-based people in the creative industries, invite them to list their services in the Commission’s free directory. http://berkshirefilm.org/

New Client: Suffield Academy

We're thrilled to add Suffield Academy in CT to our client roster. We'll be helping Suffield on a couple of projects to help them increase their visibility in Greater Springfield, MA. http://www.suffieldacademy.org/default.aspx#/visitor

I'm a product of an independent college preparatory school. I'm impressed with Suffield Academy's commitment to academic excellence, its Leadership program, a beautiful campus, and its faculty and staff, many of whom are Suffield Academy graduates. Each time I visit the campus, I get nostalgic for my high school days.

The Big Broadcast

Mount Holyoke College announces The Big Broadcast

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/22/stories/5683719

David Pakman Profile in BusinessWest

February 2012. http://businesswest.com/2012/02/talk-of-the-town

Snow Dates: The Big Broadcast

The snow date for "The Big Broadcast" by the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College (SUN 3/04/12 at 2PM & 7PM) will be the following SUN, 3/11/12 at 2PM & 7PM. Should inclement weather cause us to cancel the performance, the March 4 tickets will be honored on the March 11 performances.

Press Release: The Big Broadcast

DATELINE: February 6, 2012

MOUNT HOLYOKE JAZZ ENSEMBLES PRESENT 7TH ANNUAL “BIG BROADCAST” ON SUNDAY, MARCH 4.

South Hadley, MA--The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College will travel back in time to the 1940s for the 7th annual and all-new presentation of The Big Broadcast!, to be held on Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 2PM and 7PM in Chapin Auditorium on the campus of Mount Holyoke College, on Route 116 in South Hadley, MA.

Mount Holyoke College Music faculty member Mark Gionfriddo originally created The Big Broadcast! for a small cabaret group he directed, and incorporated it into the concert season at Mount Holyoke College.

“Students and I researched live radio broadcasts of the 1940s: the big band swing music, the radio serials and the commercials of the day”, said Gionfriddo. “We incorporate all of these elements into our production to give the audience the feel of an authentic radio variety program on a fictitious station named WJAZ".

Brian Lapis, chief meteorologist of WWLP-22 News, returns to the Big Broadcast for his fifth season as WJAZ announcer and emcee “Fred Kelley”.

Mark Gionfriddo, as WJAZ Maestro “Matt Morgan”, directs the students of the Mount Holyoke Big Band, Vocal Jazz, and Chamber Jazz Ensembles, who will perform well-known tunes from the swing era, including music by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Glen Gray, among others.

Mark Gionfriddo (“Matt Morgan”) is well known to area concertgoers as pianist, accompanist, composer, arranger, and musical director. His versatility and knowledge of many musical styles has brought him together with a wide range of popular and classical artists through the years, among them Mitzi Gaynor, Liberace, Al Martino, Anna Moffo, and Garrison Keillor. A native of Holyoke, MA, Mark started piano studies at the age of four, began performing at six, and directed his first musical project at twelve. His adventures while assistant conductor on board Cunard's MS Royal Viking Sun brought him around the world to 30 countries. Mark received his Bachelor's Degree in Piano from Skidmore College and Masters Degree in Accompanying from UMASS/Amherst. He has been based at Mount Holyoke College, since 1986 where he is a Senior Instructor in Jazz Piano, Director and Founder of the Mount Holyoke College Jazz Ensemble, and Music Department Staff Accompanist. In 2006, Mark conducted the MHC Big Band during two episodes of the popular public radio quiz show “SaysYou!”

Brian Lapis ("Fred Kelley") joined the 22News Storm Team in 1996. He got his start in broadcasting at the age of 15 at radio station WILI, in his hometown of Willimantic, CT. He's worked as a radio on-air talent for stations in Hartford, CT; Philadelphia, PA; Syracuse, NY; and Providence, RI. Brian has a Bachelor's degree in Television Radio Film Management from Syracuse University. In addition he holds a certificate in Broadcast

Meteorology from Mississippi State University.

Cheryl Cobb, Lecturer in Music at Mount Holyoke College, will be featured as a sound effects artist in the second act radio play. Gionfriddo’s student producers are Miriam Cantor-Stone ’MHC’12, Wendy Mellin ’MHC’12 and Emily Moner ’MHC’13. Moner and Linn Jennings MHC’12 serve the ensembles as coordinators of the vocal and instrumental jazz groups.

The Big Broadcast! sponsors include: Mount Holyoke College, Loomis Communities, The Republican/MassLive, New England Public Radio, WFCR and WNNZ.

Tickets are general admission. $20.00 premium front and center seating; $15.00 regular seating; $8.00 seniors and students. Tickets are available at Odyssey Bookshop (9 College Street, South Hadley, MA at The Village Commons), and The Northampton Box-Office (76 Main Street, Northampton, MA). For phone orders: 413-586-8686 or 1-800-THE TICK. For online orders: www.nbotickets.com.

Tickets will also be available at the door, subject to availability, one hour before each performance.

Chapin Auditorium is on the campus of Mount Holyoke College.

For directions to Mount Holyoke College:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/about/directions.html

For a campus map: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/campusmap/

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New England Public Radio (WFCR) at 50

Thrilled to see their milestone and proud to have been affiliated with them for so many years. http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/new_england_public_radio_celeb.html

Media Coverage: The Big Broadcast

Mount Holyoke's Calendar

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/music/calendar_spring.html