Essex Jazz Ensemble

Michael G. Finegold – Artistic Director of ECMP, Flutist, Composer, and Northern Essex Community College Professor Emeritus of Music enjoys a diversified career in music. He founded the Essex Chamber Music Players at Northern Essex Community College in 1999 while Professor and Coordinator of Music.

He studied flute with Doriot Dwyer, former principal flutist of the Boston Symphony while doing post-graduate work at the New England Conservatory. He studied with flutists Samuel Baron and Thomas Nyfenger as a graduate student while working on his Masters of Music and Masters of Musical Arts degrees at the Yale University School of Music.

He studied music composition with Jan Meyerowitz, Tenafly, New Jersey (1960), and Joseph Manieri, Brooklyn, New York (1965). As a composition minor-performance major at the Yale School of Music, Michael studied composition with Gunther Schuller (1966-67), Richmond Brown (1968) and James Drew (1969). In recent times he has consulted with William Thomas McKinley of Reading, Massachusetts and other composers.

Michael has performed with symphony orchestras, theater orchestras, jazz groups and given many recitals. In 1994 with pianist David Pihl, he recorded William Thomas McKinley’s Romances #2, Secrets of The Heart for the MMC (Master Musicians Collective) label. In 1995 he recorded and performed in concert McKinley’s Concerto for Flute and Strings with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague, Czechoslovakia for MMC. In 1998 he premiered Georgetown, Massachusetts composer Ray Loring’s Celebration for Flute and Strings composed for Mount Ida College’s Centennial. In 1998 he performed as soloist NECC faculty member J. Windel Brown’s About Time, and Mitch Hampton’s Pop Goes The Concert Hall: The Swingin’ Seventies with the Czech Radio Orchestra when they visited the United States performing at Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Everett Collins Center in Andover. In February of 1999 Finegold recorded these works in Prague with the orchestra. In 2000 he and internationally renowned clarinetist Richard Stolzman recorded Mitch Hampton’s The Four Humors with the Warsaw Philharmonic. In 2001 he performed the Joachim Quantz Flute Concerto in G Major as guest soloist with the Essex Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ian Carter White, at the Rogers Center For The Performing Arts, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts. In 2002 he premiered and recorded Marc Rossi’s Dance To The Music of Being and Fantasy in Adi Talam with ECMP. In 2003 he recorded William Thomas McKinley’s Three Movements for Flute and String with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava, Slovakia. Romances #2, Secrets of The Heart, Three Movements for Flute and String and About Time are now available on MMC Recordings.

Michael’s music composition work include: Quintet for amplified Flute, Violin, Piano, Bass and Drums (1969) performed at Sprague Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Salon Musings (1998) composed for and performed by the Thuringer SalonQuintett at Carnegie Recital Hall, Barge Music in New York City, and on tour throughout the United States and Europe, and Rave Reflections for Flute, Cello and Piano (2006) for the Essex Chamber Music Players to be premiered November 19, 2006 at Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill, Massachusetts.  He has also composed several jazz works: Remember The Time, Flautist’s Intrigue, In Pursuit of Nirvana, Dark and Somber, Way Would, Flowers In Autumn, and Wisteria for his jazz group The Essex Jazz Ensemble.

Michael and pianist David Pihl are founding members of the Essex Chamber Music Players. From 2001 -2006 Michael was chosen for inclusion on the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) roster in the Category of Performing and Touring. The MCC Roster is a list of high-quality Massachusetts artists across a wide range of artistic disciplines who are qualified to give performances and/or conduct school residencies. Past honors have included receipt of the Fromm Fellowship in Contemporary Music while studying at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood.

James T. Lattini is currently an assistant professor of percussion at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, drum and percussion instructor at Lexington Public Schools, Lexington, Ma., and home private instructor in Methuen, Ma. He has a B.A. in Music Education, University of Lowell and an M.M. in Percussion Performance, Boston University.

He has extensive performance experience with renown jazz artists, including: Nick Brignola, Bobby Shew, Claudio Roditti, Steve Marcus, Randy Brecker, The Artie Shaw / Dick Johnson Orchestra, Phil Wilson, Ricky Ford, Rebecca Parris, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, John Lockwood, David “Fathead” Newman, The Bruce Gertz Quartet, The Bruce Gertz/Ken Cervenka Quintet, The John Allmark Jazz Orchestra, and Mark White and “ The Last Trip”. He has appeared in numerous performances with internationally known shows and entertainers including: The Fifth Dimension, The Four Freshmen, Buddy Hackett, Eliza Karshi, Donna McKechnie, The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Jeffrey Osborne, Joe Piscopo, Don Rickles, and most recently has performed with the show, “Gershwin Sings Gershwin,” featuring Alexis Gershwin.

He has numerous television and motion picture recording credits including the television shows “Visions” on WLVI channel 56, Boston, Ma., Melrose Place, and the motion picture, “Analyze This.” His recording credits include: Joan Landis, Quiet Passion,” The Bob Sinicrope Trio, and a recently released recording with Miles Donahue, “Bounce,” featuring Joe Caderazzo and John Patitucci. The most  recently released recording that he has appeared on has been with jazz vocalist, Rebecca Parris, “You Don’t Know Me,” featuring Houston Person, Jerry Bergonzi, and Gary Burton.

His festival performances include: The Boston Globe Jazz Festival, The Equinox jazz Festival, and The Manchester Jazz and Blues Festival. He has also been a performer and clinician at the IAJE convention, Boston, Ma. 1994. He is also an endorser of Vic Firth products and a member of the Vic Firth Education Team.