Colin Howe for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Jessica Mallow Gulley s first nine months as executive director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra have been extraordinary ones. Pulling off a spectular 100th season was supposed to be the first order of business, but the COVID-19 pandemic soon put plans for the season in disarray. Since then, Gulley and the other members of the KSO staff have planned, re-planned, and re-re-planned ways to keep the music alive, and to stay connected to the wider community.
Listen
Rufus Ferguson
Rufus Ferguson was a freshman at Western Michigan University when Keith Hall first heard the young pianist s soulful, gospel-inflected playing. At that time, Ferguson had only just begun to explore jazz. Through hard work, and under the guidance of piano professor Jeremy Siskind, Keith Hall and other members of the WMU jazz faculty, Ferguson developed into a multifaceted performer and composer who takes pride in the nickname Sideman Ferguson. He can fit into nearly any performance situation and make it sound good. In an in-studio performance and interview with Keith Hall, Rufus Ferguson takes a turn as a soloist, and talks about what made him the player he is today.