Shelter Island Friends of Music presents its first concert of the 2022 season on Saturday, April 9 at 7 pm, featuring Bruce Wolosoff, pianist and composer, at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. A long-time Shelter Island resident, he will be performing compositions written on the Island for the first time.

The concert opens with Schubert’s Impromptu in Gb Major Opus 90 No. 3 and several pieces by Debussy. The second half is comprised entirely of Mr. Wolosoff’s original compositions.

In addition to studying classical piano since the age of three, Mr. Wolosoff cites jazz greats like Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Chick Corea as influential in his music. “As an American composer in the early part of the 21st century,” Mr. Wolosoff said, “I’m working within the classical tradition and extending it by embracing some of these ‘folkloric’ elements, the way that the composers of the past did with the music of their culture…apparent in works by Schubert or Haydn.”

His compositional inspirations also include visual arts and dance: artworks by his friends Eric Fischl and April Gornik and his wife, Margaret Garrett and a collaboration with the late choreographer Ann Reinking on two award-winning ballets.

He is also artistic director of Reflections in Music, a non-profit organization that presents music “in conversation with other art forms.”

Mr. Wolosoff's recording of “Concerto for Cello and Orchestra” with the Royal Philharmonic and Sara Sant'Ambrogio, cellist of the Eroica Trio, was a Billboard Top 10 best-selling classical album. His latest collaboration with Ms. Sant’Ambrogio, “Paradise Found: Cello Music of Bruce Wolosoff,” will be available on April 15, 2022.

Admission to the concert is free. Masks are optional.

Donations to Shelter Island Friends of Music are always appreciated. Please visit www.shelterislandfriendsofmusic.org.

A reception with Mr. Wolosoff follows the concert.