June 6 | Back to Bach
June 6 | Back to Bach
Doors at 7 p.m. | Music at 8 p.m.
Kind of Bach brings together classical pianist Anna Bogolubova and jazz pianist Joe Block for a program that reimagines the piano canon through collaboration and improvisation, with two grand pianos on the terrace and plenty of room for surprise. Drawing on music by Bach, Joplin, Chopin, and Debussy, the duo deconstructs familiar works and rebuilds them in real time, blending classical interpretation with jazz language. At moments faithful and at others freely exploratory, the music unfolds as a conversation between two distinct traditions meeting at the piano, finding new paths in music that audiences may think they already know.
Joe Block is a Steinway Artist and award-winning pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and musical director from Philadelphia, PA. Classically trained from the age of two, he later discovered a deep passion for jazz while studying at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts and the Kimmel Center’s Creative Music Program, immersed in the city’s rich musical community.
Now based in New York City, Block is a graduate of the Columbia–Juilliard dual-degree program (BA ’21, MM ’22), where he studied with Geoffrey Keezer, Marc Cary, Ted Rosenthal, and Frank Kimbrough. He performs with Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Gary Bartz, and has appeared at venues including Carnegie Hall, Village Vanguard, and Apollo Theater.
Recognized by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers,” Block received the 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition, and was selected as a finalist for the 2027 American Piano Awards.
Block is an active composer and arranger, contributing works for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet, as well as ensembles including the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, and artists including Grace Kelly and Kenny Overton. He leads his own ensembles, the Open Heart Trio and the Joe Block Quintet, dedicated to performing his original music, and has taught over 30 students, continuing the tradition that shaped his upbringing in Philadelphia.
He has served as guest musical director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and as a guest conductor for the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. In 2025, Block served as associate musical director and pianist for George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway, and as musical director for Ornada, an award-winning Armada Skis feature film presented with a live original score.
He has released two albums as a leader: Love Shadows, a collaboration with vocalist Shabnam Abedi, and Solo Piano, Vol. 1.
Joe has a broad range of performance experience, having played with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis Quintet/Septet, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eric Harland, Kurt Elling, Steve Wilson, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Victor Lewis, Peter Bernstein, Seamus Blake, Ari Hoenig, Eric Alexander, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jaleel Shaw, Rodney Green, Joe Farnsworth, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Captain Black Big Band, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
Anna Bogolubova is celebrated as one of the leading Ukrainia performer/composers. As a tribute to her talent, National TV Ukraine aired a documentary film “Anna Bogolubova – composer and pianist.”
In addition to her international solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Germany, Andorra, Italy, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine, Ms. Bogolubova has been featured on Radio and TV Odessa,
Ukraine; Warsaw TV, Poland; Senegalia Television, Italy; Radio and TV Monterrey Mexico and Radio Binghamton in the United States. Anna Bogolyubova is a top prize winner of several competitions,
including: XX Incontro Internazionale Giovani Pianisti Citta Di Senegalia, Italy; Concurso Internacional de Piano, Andorra; The Music and Art Foundation Young Musicians Piano Competition, New York –
1st prize; New York Chopin Competition – 1st prize; BC Pops Martha & Richard Youth Concerto Competition in Binghamton, New York – 1st prize; and the most recent one - Concurso Internacional de PianoParnassos in Mexico – 1st prize. After her highly successful solo debut at the age of 8 in the famous Odessa Philharmonic Hall, Anna Bogolubova was admitted to the Stolyarsky Music School where she was under the patronage of Prof.
Anatoly Kardashef. At the age of 10 Anna was selected to perform Beethoven’s 2nd Piano Concerto under the direction of Garry Oganezov, launching her in a
performing career through her native country. Anna Bogolubova holds both Bachelor and Master Degrees from The Juilliard School for the Performing Arts where she had studied with Prof. Oxana Yablonskaya.
In August 2007 Naxos released a CD of Anna Bogolubova performing two concertos by H. K. Hedley with Russia Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Dmitry Yablonsky.
Anna Bogolyubova has over twnty years of pedagogic experience teaching privately and in schools such as The Lycce Francais de New York and The Hovnanian School. Anna has been invited to give Master
Classes in several countries and has been a judge of international piano competitions.
In 2010 Anna Bogolubova co-founded BOMAA (Beauty Of Music And Art) in New York City.
We will be collecting donations for We are Ukraine , an organization striving to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected by the war—by fostering resilience, rebuilding communities, and restoring hope.