INFORMATION FOR
Ted Rosenthal, one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation, brings his trio to the Shea Center stage at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, October 19, 2025 for a Gershwin program as part of the fall 2025 Jazz Room series. The concert begins at 3:00 p.m.
The Jazz Room, William Paterson University’s long-running performance series, will feature a wide variety of today’s most exciting jazz musicians during the fall 2025 season. Upcoming performances include the Tyshawn Sorey Trio on Sunday, October 26; trumpeter Scott Wendholdt with the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra on Sunday, November 16; and pianist Eliane Elias on Sunday, November 23.
The concert will be preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 2:00 p.m., one hour prior to each concert, in the Shea Recital Hall.
Rosenthal has collaborated, toured, and worked with some of the jazz greats of the past 40 years, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and Bob Brookmeyer. Early in his career, he was winner of the 1988 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, and his appearance on Marian McPartland’s NPR Piano Jazz program is well known.
His recordings show his approaches to the American popular song and Broadway classics. This concert will showcase his trio’s versions of the compositions of one of the greatest American composers of any genre, George Gershwin, including Rosenthal’s unique version of Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Tickets are $20 for the general public, $18 for WP faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, and $10 for non-WP students. WP students are admitted free with ID. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 50 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room series of concerts each fall and spring.
The Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. This concert is sponsored by Keith Danish.
