Jazz pianist Fred Hersch to perform at Hope College

The public is invited and admission is free.

The performance marks a return engagement for Hersch, who has performed at the college a variety of times through the years, most recently in February 2011. His visit to campus has been arranged by the college’s jazz-studies area.

His numerous accomplishments include a 2003 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition, two Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance and a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition. He has appeared on more than 100 recordings, including more than two dozen albums as bandleader/solo pianist. His career as a performer has been enhanced by his composing, a vital part of nearly all of his live concerts and recordings.

In 2003, Hersch created “Leaves of Grass” (Palmetto Records), a large-scale setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry for two voices (Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry) and an instrumental octet; the work was presented in March 2005 in a sold-out performance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of a six-city U.S. tour.

During his residency at Hope, Hersch will perform clinics, give private lessons, perform a solo piano concert and present a lecture/recital on his recovery from a two-month coma.

Nykerk Hall of Music is located in the central Hope campus at the former 127 E. 12th St., between College and Columbia avenues.