Posted on December 28, 2016 at 8:18 am

There has been such a sense of loss pervading 2016, so many icons of our culture gone, so much debased and distorted in our sense of ourselves as a nation, so much that is uncertain and uncontained in the world. I am choosing, in these last days of this exhausting and often unkind year, to focus on the fact that I have been able to make music with so many extraordinary people. Finding a shared space with other musicians is the thing that makes me feel like there is a way forward – a conversation, a collaboration. Thank you to all of the musicians and creative geniuses listed below for helping me find a reason to look ahead. I have had so many exquisite collaborations in 2016, and I remain supremely grateful for Marc Kaplan and the team at SubCulture who have given me an artistic home for more than twenty concerts now. Nothing could have meant more to me than the Last Five Years concert for the Brady Campaign, where Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Henry gave luminous performances, and for which we were able to raise $200,000 to help control the spread of illegal and unsafe firearms in this country. I’ll conclude this year, as I have done so many times, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on New Year’s Eve, sharing the stage with their magnificent orchestra and chorus (led by Kent Tritle), Elizabeth Stanley, and featuring not only two of my own pieces but also a premiere by my amazing partner, Georgia Stitt. I am so lucky, and I am so grateful. Peace and safety to us all in 2017.

Michael Aarons (1, 2)
Shelagh Abate (3)
Sebastian Arcelus (3)
Jonathan Bailey & Samantha Barks and the orchestra of The Last Five Years at the St. James Theatre in London
Shoshana Bean (at Catalina Bar & Grill, CA; Pizza Express, Covent Garden, London UK; & Library of Congress, Washington DC)
Stephanie J. Block (3)
Summer Boggess (4)
Tituss Burgess (SubCulture)
Ta’Rea Campbell (6)
Kristin Chenoweth (My Love Letter to Broadway, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC)
Zac Coe (1)
Darren Criss (9, 10)
Jami Dauber (1)
Monica Davis (3)
Rob DeBellis (1, 9)
Angela DeCicco (7)
Clint de Ganon (1)
Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf (3, 4 & Sh-K-Boom 16th Anniversary concert, Symphony Space, NYC)
Brian Dunne (2)
Jamie Eblen (1, 9)
Dave Eggar (SubCulture)
Dan Erben (8)
Cynthia Erivo (4, 9)
Eden Espinosa (SubCulture and at Temple Theatre, Des Moines IA)
Giuseppe Fusco (3)
Ana Gasteyer (SubCulture)
Stephanie Burkett Gerson (7)
Julie Gigante (2)
Justin Goldner (1)
Lena Hall (SubCulture)
Joshua Henry (4)
Matt Hinkley (5)
Megan Hilty (SubCulture)
Caitlin Houlahan (3, 8)
Caleb Hoyer (8)
Pam Jacobson (2, 8)
Caitlin Kinnunen (3)
Guy Klucevsek (1, 3)
Benny Koonyevsky (1, 3, 5)
Leslie Kritzer (6)
La Chanze (SubCulture)
Randy Landau (1, 4, 5, 9)
Jeffrey Lesser (2, 6)
Keith Levenson (8)
Norm Lewis (SubCulture and his show at 54 Below, NYC)
Dane Little (2)
J. Elaine Marcos (6)
Anastacia McCleskey (7)
Lindsay Mendez (SubCulture, 9)
Chris Miller (SubCulture)
Miranda Mulholland (SubCulture)
Thomas Murray (3, 4, 5)
Helen Nightengale (2)
Destan Owens (6)
Bryonha Marie Parham (6)
Lauren Pritchard (SubCulture)
Dave Riekenberg (1, 9)
Todd Reynolds (1, 3, 4)
Troy Rinker (3)
Charlie Rosen (6)
Justin Rothberg (8)
Andrew Samonsky (8) and the cast of The Bridges of Madison County national tour (Ahmanson Theatre, CA; Kennedy Center, Washington DC)
Clint Sharman (1, 9)
Duncan Sheik (SubCulture)
Jonathan Marc Sherman, Daisy Prince and the cast of the first reading of The Connector in NYC
Gary Sieger (1, 4, 9, 11)
Elizabeth Stanley (8, 11)
Andrew Synowiec (Catalina Bar & Grill, CA)
Shaina Taub (SubCulture)
Amir Khalib Thompson (Questlove) & The Roots (The Tonight Show)
Katie Thompson (SubCulture)
Allie Trimm (3)
Dr. Patrice E. Turner (1,7)
Nathan Tysen (SubCulture)
Mariand Torres (1, 6)
Nicole van Giesen (6)
Jesse Warren-Nager (1, 3, 6)
Dan’yelle Williamson (1)
Betsy Wolfe (6, 10)

and, for joining me and Shoshana onstage at Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood, getting me to write and produce a song for her new album, asking me to accompany her on the MTV Video Music Awards, inviting me to join her at the Time 100 dinner, and putting my face, my piano playing and my song on the Tonight Show, a very special thank you to Ariana Grande. What an amazing thing to be ringside for your triumphs.

Apologies to anyone I left out – rest assured I am thankful to have shared some notes and beats with you all!

1 SubCulture residency series
2 “Jason’s Song” (Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman CD)
3 Parade symposium at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC
4 The Last Five Years benefit at Town Hall, NYC
5 The Connector first reading in NYC
6 Triumph: Find The One… Again! campaign, recorded in NY, LA and Switzerland
7 “Invisible” premiere: Broadway Inspirational Voices/Ronald McDonald House event
8 The Bridges of Madison County national tour
9 Elsie Fest, Coney Island, NYC
10 New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, NYC
11 New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC