Music in Dumfries presents: New Focus
Award-winning piano-saxophone team Euan Stevenson and Konrad Wiszniewski’s New Focus: The Classical Connection gives fascinating insights into the relationship between classical music and jazz.
About the event
In this superb, informal presentation two of the UK’s leading jazz musicians improvise a Bach-style reinvention of a well-known standard and an arrangement of the Duke Ellington Orchestra’s theme tune, Take the A Train in the style of a Mozart sonata, among other delights.
Euan Stevenson is an award-winning pianist and composer working in jazz, classical and pop music. He has performed in concerts and masterclasses throughout the UK and the USA and his music has been broadcast widely across BBC Radio and Jazz FM. His film and TV work includes music for the BBC’s Horizon documentary series and the 2018 feature film Voyageuse.
A former student of London-based jazz pianist Liam Noble, Euan has worked with many of the top players on the UK jazz scene. His tasteful accompanying skills have underpinned the vocals of numerous singers, notably Tina May, Nikki King, Anita Wardell and most recently, the winner of the Best Vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards 2019, Georgia Cecile.
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Konrad Wiszniewski was born in Glasgow in 1980 and took up tenor saxophone at the age of 13. He toured and recorded with the European Youth Jazz Orchestra before releasing his first CD, Konrad Wiszniewski, in 2005.
Stevenson and Wiszniewski’s first album, simply titled New Focus, was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year award in 2012 and the follow-up, New Focus on Song, which reflected their engagement with both pop and folk music, was also very enthusiastically received.
They have played at numerous prestigious events, including BBC Radio 3’s 70th Birthday celebrations at the South Bank in London in 2016, in a concert that was broadcast live. They have also appeared at the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London, at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, at Perth Festival of the Arts, at Edinburgh and Glasgow Jazz Festivals, and at Lichfield Festival.
PROGRAMME
Air in D Minor - Euan Stevenson
Greenpark - Euan Stevenson
All The Things You Are - Jerome Kern
Take The A Train - Billy Strayhorn
Chelsea Bridge - Billy Strayhorn
Liebestraum No.3 - Franz Liszt
Interval
Leonard’s Lament - Euan Stevenson
Nice Work if You Can Get It - George Gershwin
They Can’t Take That Away From Me - George Gershwin
Gymnopedie No.1 - Erik Satie
Flamenco Sketches - Miles Davis
Love For Sale Cole Porter
Flora - Euan Stevenson
Date
Friday 7th November 2025
Time
7.30pm
Location
The Bridge, Dumfries, DG2 0LL
Find tickets
Find out if tickets are available and purchase tickets on the venue's website.