Landis to Perform Works of Alec Wilder at Burchfield Penney

Kathleen Landis used her piano-playing artistry and sophisticated vocals to make a name for herself in the traditionally male-dominated cabaret club scene. In doing so, she joined renowned female pianists/vocalists such as Hadda Brooks, Barbara Carroll, Diana Krall, and Ann Hampton Calloway.

Like many of her contemporaries, Landis has turned her focus to theme-inspired performances, such as “Let’s Misbehave! A Jazz Era Romp” (flapper-era tunes) and “Gershwin: Island to Island, Cuban Overture Fantasy.” In her shows, Landis creates an aura of elegance and nostalgia.

Buffalo can get a taste of that nostalgia and hear treasured cabaret and classical compositions in the performance “While We’re Young: A Tribute to Alec Wilder” on Thursday, March 1, at 7:00 p.m. at the  Burchfield Penney Art Center.  Landis will also deliver a lecture/demonstration, “From New York’s Café Pierre to Buffalo’s Burchfield Penney,” where she will discuss the importance of Wilder’s groundbreaking tome American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950 and her own career, Thursday, March 1, at 12:15 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney's Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium.

Landis’ visit to Buffalo State is part of the concert-lecture series, High Standards: The Legacy of the Great American Songbook, that features three cabaret greats. “Cabaret Prince” Steve Ross, performed on February 23, while jazz-cabaret sensation and Schoolhouse Rocks! songwriter Bob Dorough will deliver a lecture and performance on Thursday, March 8.

The lectures are free to all. The evening concerts are free for students and cost $5 for Burchfield Penney members, Buffalo State faculty and staff, and $10 for the general public.

The Student Life Office and a grant from the Faculty Student Association funded the series.
For more information, call (716) 878-6011.