Saxophone Faculty
Charlie Tokarz
Charlie Tokarz studied clarinet with Walt Lehmann in Williamstown, Maand flute with Tom Perizoli in Washington, D.C. He was a music major at Hartwick College and graduated from UMass with a B.A. degree. He plays saxophone, flute, clarinet, and wind controller. While living in Boston, he was an accompanist for dance at the Institute for Contemporary Dance, Boston University, and Radcliffe. He has been a pit musician for musicals at the Berkshire Public Theatre, Berkshire School, and the Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, D.C. For several years he ran a jazz series at the Racebrook Lodge in Sheffield Ma. which featured group improvisation as well as jazz standards. He has received 2 Meet the Composer grants to provide original music for dance and a Mass. Cultural Council grant to arrange a group of solo concerts. Through an association with David Grover and Children’s Chorus, he has performed at the White House, 92nd Street Y, and the Today Show, as well as recording Grover’s music for an HBO documentary. He has recently been performing with master drummer Bob Weiner in a duo format at Earth Dance and Kripalu Yoga Center. In 2003 as a result of recording with the group Shakti Fusion, he played for yoga conferences in New York and the Caribbean. Another recording with composer/actor Phillip Howlett culminated in a multimedia performance at Symphony Space in New York. Projects for 2004 have included recording original music for film at vyzmusic.com, collaborating with drummer Bob Weiner on a duo recording, and participating in a new CD with the band Wakarusa which features Afro-Cuban styles with kora player, John Hughes. Currently, he works as a free lance musician and teaches at Hotchkiss School and the Steiner School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, when he is not touring with the Sister City Jazz Ensemble..