The de Blasiis Chamber Music Series Welcomes the David Restivo Trio, featuring Saxophonist Christine Jensen
NEWS CONTACT:
Jennifer Brink, Executive Director
Phone: (518) 793-1348
E-mail: exdir@gfso.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 23, 2026
NEW! Jazz at the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series
The de Blasiis Chamber Series presents the Glens Falls Symphony’s own percussionist Alyssa Falk Verheyn, multi-instrumentally talented jazz musician, collaborating with world renowned composer David Restivo - piano, Danica Rebudiao - bass, and special guest Christine Jensen – saxophone, on Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3 pm at the Helen Froehlich Auditorium in the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY.
Alyssa Falk Verheyn:
Alyssa Falk Verheyn is a JUNO-nominated drummer, percussionist, educator, & clinician based in the capital district. Her talents and unique style have led her around the world to perform in a variety of settings. Alyssa holds degrees in classical/jazz performance and in music education, receiving degrees from the Crane School of Music-SUNY Potsdam (2004) and Manhattan School of Music (2006).
In the United States, Alyssa has performed and recorded with a variety of traditional & experimental jazz groups, including artists such as Steve Wilson, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman and Bret Zvacek, among others. In Canada, she has shared the stage with acclaimed artists Alex Dean, Pat Labarbera, Dave Restivo, John Geggie, Sienna Dahlen, and Christine Jensen. She has recorded on numerous projects throughout the years and continues to record actively with new up-and-coming projects in the area. Alyssa was the recipient of the IAJE “Sisters in Jazz” Award, honoring women in jazz at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival. She has toured as the drummer with the American Wind Symphony and is currently a tenured percussionist in the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra as well as the drummer for the Adirondack Theater Festival.
Internationally, Alyssa has mentored jazz students at various festivals. With a passion for teaching, she maintains an active career in music education, working in both the public school and college settings year-round. She is currently a band/orchestra teacher in the Queensbury School District, where she lives with her husband and two children.
David Restivo:
David Restivo is an award-winning pianist and composer. Born in Lansing, Michigan, molded by the mountains and coasts of New England, and based primarily in Toronto, Canada since 1982, he has been a sought-after and influential figure in Canada’s jazz community since the late 1980s. In 2019, he relocated to Nelson, BC after accepting an offer to join the full-time music faculty at Selkirk College.
Well-known for his work with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, the Mike Murley Quintet, and legendary songwriter Marc Jordan, David has performed and recorded with such renowned artists as Dave Holland, Curtis Fuller, Mel Tormé, Kenny Wheeler, Jon Hendricks, and David Clayton-Thomas. David holds a Master of Arts degree in music composition from York University. A dedicated music educator for over 20 years, he has previously taught at Humber College, the Banff Centre for the Arts, St Francis Xavier University, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Toronto. His own teachers have included Muhal Richard Abrams, Jim McNeely, and Kenny Werner.
Danica Rebudiao:
Danica Rebudiao is a double bassist and vocalist from Madison, Wisconsin. Based in Rochester, New York, she studies jazz bass performance with Jeff Campbell at the Eastman School of Music. Recently, she helped to organize a celebration of Women in Jazz Day hosted by the Eastman School of Music alongside Milena Casado, Christine Jensen, Melissa Gardiner, and Sara Gazarek. Danica performed at the 2025 Rochester International Jazz Festival with several groups. She has also performed in collaboration with the New Works Collective at the Royal Room in Seattle, WA, led by Wayne Horvitz.
Christine Jensen:
Canadian Saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen has led a distinct voice to the creative jazz scene for the last twenty-five years with her large and small ensembles. She is set to release her third jazz orchestra album, Harbour (2024), on Justin-Time Records. It features her Montreal-based orchestra, along with guest soloists, NY-based Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and electronics, Gary Versace on piano, Chet Doxas on tenor saxophone, Jon Wikan on drums, and Montreal-based Steve Raegele on guitar. This album captures over a decade of her compositions and commissions, with her sister’s improvisations infused throughout.
“Always a compelling writer, capable of strong lyricism combined with harmonic invention and plenty of narrative twists and turns, Jensen’s music not only impresses on a first encounter, but reveals more with each and every listen.” – All About Jazz
As a Downbeat Critic’s Poll winner for Rising Star Big Band, Arranger, and Soprano Saxophonist, she is constantly in motion as an improviser, composer and bandleader. Her jazz orchestra recordings have gone on to win Juno awards, including Habitat (2014) and Treelines (2011). She is nominated for a 2024 Juno for her latest pandemic-inspired quartet album Day Moon (2023). She has been honored as a two-time recipient of SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Jazz Composer Award. Habitat received the coveted 5 stars in Downbeat, along with Jazz Album of the Year. In 2017, Jensen was awarded the Prix Oscar Peterson from the Montreal International Jazz Festival for her exceptional contributions to jazz in Canada.
Jensen’s latest Montreal quartet released the Juno-nominated album Day Moon in 2023 to rave reviews. She also works with the quartet collective CODE with Montreal-based Jim Doxas, drums, Adrian Vedady, bass, and Lex French, trumpet. They released Genealogy in 2020 and are set to release CODE-Red in fall 2024 on Justin-Time Records. She continues to collaborate in quintet settings with her sister and their ensembles Infinitude, featuring Ben Monder, along with Swedish composer and pianist Maggi Olin.
Jensen has performed with Jeremy Pelt, Phil Dwyer, Ben Monder, Gary Smuylan, Geoffrey Keezer, Lenny Pickett, and Donny McCaslin, Helen Sung, as well as directing Terrence Blanchard with the Orchestre National Jazz de Montreal. She is the founding artistic director and conductor of the Canadian National Jazz Orchestra, as well as the past artistic director of Orchestre National Jazz de Montreal (ONJ), who commissioned and recorded her suite Under the Influence (2017) as well as her ever-evolving project equal=orchestra (2022).
In 2022, Jensen joined the Eastman faculty as professor of jazz studies, where she teaches jazz composition and arranging, along with directing the award-winning Eastman Jazz Ensemble. She continues to work between Montreal and New York, where she has previously been on faculty at McGill University, Purchase College (NY), University of Sherbrooke, and Université de Montreal. Teachers and mentors include Kenny Werner, Jim McNeely, Dick Oatts, Remi Bolduc, and John Hollenbeck
Program:
Sicilian Suite
Honeydew Harbor
The Bull and the Roses (Restivo);
Day Moon, Margareta, Tolos D’Abril, Upper Fargo (Jensen).
Tickets:
Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3 pm: de Blasiis Chamber Music Series: The David Restivo Trio featuring Christine Jensen, saxophone, at the Helen Froehlich Auditorium, Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY. This concert is part of the de Blasiis Chamber Series.
Tickets $25/Adults, $10/Youth.
Available at www.theglensfallssymphony.org or at the door with cash/check only, based on availability.
For more information, contact Jennifer Brink at (518) 793-1348 or exdir@gfso.org
Glens Falls Symphony Office (518) 793-1348
Located upstairs in the LARAC Gallery building: 7 Lapham Place in Glens Falls
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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About the de Blasiis Chamber Series
The mission of the de Blasiis Chamber Series is to discover, encourage, and present the finest possible musical talent in the northeastern New York region. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit devoted to producing outstanding artistic musical performances for audiences with great enthusiasm for history and the works.
The de Blasiis Chamber Music Series grew from the efforts of the two de Blasiis sisters, Giovannina, a pianist, and Virginia, a violinist. The women, along with various guest artists, regularly put on house concerts and eventually began performing in the courtyard at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY. When the museum’s contemporary wing was opened, the concerts were relocated to the Helen Froehlich Auditorium.
Looking back on the series’ roots, "The best word for it would be a soiree,” says retired musician, journalist, and former de Blasiis artistic director William Martin. During its 90+ years in existence, the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series has brought names to Glens Falls, such as The Hui Cox Ensemble, world-renowned pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner, guitarists Maria Zemantauski and Sten Isachsen, the Capital Region's own Hyperion String Quartet, the Lyons Chamber Players, Glens Falls Symphony Principal Clarinet Chris Bush, and GFS Concertmaster and Violinist Michael Emery, to name a few.
In 2023, Glens Falls Symphony advisor director Charles Peltz joined forces with the de Blasiis to serve as music director and creative support. Robert Rosoff, former Executive Director of the Glens Falls Symphony, is currently serving as Executive Director of the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series.
The Glens Falls Symphony is proud to partner with this amazing organization and envision a major expansion of live concerts, collaborative performances, and deeply engaging activities that enrich the lives of those living in the Glens Falls region and beyond. Concerts occur in the Helen Froehlich Auditorium at the Hyde Collection, 161 Warren Street, Glens Falls, NY.