Music Department to Present 'Evening of Jazz' at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – The music department at the College of the Holy Cross will present "An Evening of Jazz" on Oct. 6 at 9:30 p.m. in Room 519 of the Hogan Campus Center. The concert will feature Donna Byrne, vocalist, Mike Monaghan, sax, and Bob Winter, piano. Monaghan is a professor in the music department at Holy Cross. Admission for students and seniors is $6; $10 for others.

Proceeds go to the Holy Cross spring choir tour to Italy.

Byrne uses a wide range of deep, soulful vocal talents and a true artist’s feel for interpretation and improvisation. Experimenting with her emotions and playing her versatile voice like an instrument, Byrne’s performances have entertained audiences at Los Angeles’ Jazz Bakery, New York’s Tavern on the Green, Blue Note and Rainbow and Stars, among other venues across the country. Jazz Times proclaims Byrne as "one of the best singers currently on the scene, one who approaches her lyrics with both intelligence and swinging time, and without distorting syllabic emphasis or resorting to stagy histrionics to get her meaning across."

Monaghan, who also works as a jazz musician, studio singer, and back-up vocalist, has been a freelance woodwind player in Boston for more than 25 years. His freelance work includes performances with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras; with orchestras for Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet; and in pit orchestras for touring shows including Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Porgy and Bess, Sweeney Todd, and others at the Wang, Colonial, and Shubert theaters in Boston. Monaghan has performed with popular entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Ray Charles, among others.

Winter holds extensive experience in clubs, television, radio and theaters, including performances with Henry Mancini, Teddy Wilson, Buddy DeFranco, Mel Torme, Luciano Pavarotti, Eddie Daniels, Stan Getz, Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, and Airto Moreira. He has played piano for the Boston Pops Orchestra and has recorded with the orchestra in solo, duo and quartet settings.