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Rob Levit
About Rob › Rob Levit is a multi-directional artist. While principally known as a guitarist and leader of the Rob Levit Trio renowned for its jazz renditions and improvisations, he also paints, writes poetry and essays and is active in infusing creativity and leadership into schools, communities and the workplace. Levit lives on the cutting-edge of artistic inspiration and innovation and is a gifted speaker and facilitator on leadership, team building, and the creative process. Recently, he served as an Artist-In-Residence for six years at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the first musician select...moreed to that position. He has given presentations for the Moss Foundation for Children’s Education, Daimler-Chrysler, Northwestern Mutual, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, New Jersey Hospital Association, Leadership Anne Arundel and many others.
In July and August 2006, Levit served as a fellow for the APPEX program at UCLA’s Center for Intercultural Performance where he lived, collaborated, and performed with creative artists from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Germany, and the United States. The program was sponsored in part by the United States Department of State. In September 2006, Levit was the recipient of the Annie Award for performing arts given annually to artists “who have made a lasting, significant and inspiring contribution to an art form, an arts organization, and to the wider community of Anne Arundel County.” In October 2006, he was awarded the City of Annapolis Mayor’s Come Together Award for citizens who “have demonstrated significant contributions to the spirit of community civility.” In January 2007, he was a recipient of Capital-Gazette Leadership Anne Arundel’s Community Trustee Award for his community programs, leadership and involvement. In January 2007, he founded 2C (Creating Communities) to foster creativity and the arts for the underserved with a focus on elementary school children, hospital patients and adults with mental illness. He is a multiple-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award and one of 10 composers to receive the inaugural jazz composition commission from Chamber Music America in 2000.
As an arts integration specialist Levit travels statewide working to harness the power of the arts as a learning tool in the classroom environment. He is on the roster of Maryland State Arts Council, Montgomery County Arts Council and Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
Major performances as a leader and co-leader include: Montreal International Jazz Festival, Boston Globe Jazz Festival, Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Texaco New York Jazz Festival, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (with Ballet Theater of Maryland), Blues Alley, The Regatta Bar and the World Festival of Sacred Music.
He has released and recorded over fifteen commercially available compact discs. He has painted the album art for his last four CD’s. His 2005 CD Touch the Spirit, a solo instrumental guitar album, was received to critical acclaim and climbed to #11 on the national New Age/World Music charts. In November 2006, Levit released Songs of Healing, an album of original guitar pieces designed for friend, families, and patients of Hospice of the Chesapeake. In 2007, he served as music consultant and composer for many tracks on the acclaimed Annapolis film Pip and Zastrow. In September 2008, he will travel to Los Angeles to perform at the opening concert of the World Festival of Sacred Music with musicians from around the world. www.roblevit.com
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About this Project
The album Songs of Healing was/is a unique partnership between Rob Levit and The Hospice of the Chesapeake. To date, 1500 copies of the album have been distributed to patients, friends, family and caregivers throughout the community.
Hospice of the Chesapeake announces the release of "Songs of Healing," a CD of inspirational music from renowned Anne Arundel County musician Rob Levit. The organization has paired with Levit, Artist-In- Residence at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, to create a tangible means of comfort and relaxation for patients, caregivers and the community. Created especially for Hospice of the Chesapeake, the album consists of 16 original works.
"The gift of music touches everyone, young or old, in good health and in bad," Erwin Abrams, president and CEO of Hospice of the Chesapeake says. "We pride ourselves in offering the best quality end-of-life care to patients, as well as spiritual and bereavement support to families, loved ones, and the community at large. This project helps us in accomplishing that goal."
Levit ensured the CD would live up to its title by spending time with patients at the John & Arloine Mandrin Chesapeake Hospice House before entering the studio to record the music. "This project has been the most meaningful I have ever engaged in," he explains. "It has far exceeded my expectations and fuses my creative talents with service to a wonderful organization."
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Performing Arts
- Community Arts
Keywords
Painting Community music guitar acoustic
About this Project
The Creating Communities Arts Mentorship Academy offered 28 full-scholarships to students from the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County area who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend an arts program. In a unique partnership with Anne Arundel County Schools, The Clay Street Collaborative and others, Founding Director Rob Levit created a program that fused and integrated jazz dance, African drumming, muraling and photography this past summer. The AMA is now slated for two weeks in Summer 2009 with various winter programs (all scholarship) being planned. The Arts Mentorship Academy received the Innovative Program Award from the Volunteer Center of Anne Arundel County with its emphasis on arts-integration, one-on-one mentorship and investing in each students innate creative ability.
Categories
- Community Arts
Keywords
youtube video youth arts integration community creativity student innovation scholarship drumming dance mural photography
About this Project
Collaboration of two artists of very different backgrounds -- Annapolis-based jazz artist Rob Levit and Javanese-Balinese vocalist Emiko Susilo. Lyric with traditional and sacred texts coupled with innovative acoustic guitar work.
Categories
- Performing Arts
- New Forms
Keywords
spiritual jazz fusion vocals guitar culture indonesia bali world
About this Project
Rob Levit served as Artist-In-Residence at Arundel Lodge where he collaborated and worked with adults with severe mental illness to create music, art and prose that reflected the innate creativity, positive orientation and lives of this very talented yet oft-forgotten group. He worked closely with staff and emplyees to create a positive and safe environment for the "members" of Arundel Lodge to create. These innovations continue to this day at Arundel Lodge -- a model program for community arts in Anne Arundel County.
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Performing Arts
- Community Arts
Keywords
art music residence
About this Project
Rob combines his visual, electronic and prose to share insights for all into the creative process . . .
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Performing Arts
- Sound Arts
- New Forms
Keywords
art music poetry electronica
About this Project
What distinguishes The Rob Levit Trio from the myriad of fine jazz groups today?
* Interacting with the audience to create an intimate and meaningful performance that will long be remembered.
* Commitment to educating youth and audiences of all ages on the unique place jazz holds in creativity, culture, and history.
* High standards of professionalism and efficiency in business and performance logistics for venues.
The Rob Levit Trio
The Rob Levit Trio, one of the best loved jazz groups in the mid-Atlantic region, is anchored by acoustic bassist Amy Shook, one of the few women acoustic jazz bass virtuoso in the world, and master drummer Frank Russo. Together, they create a seamless mix of jazz, world, classical, and funk grooves that is rapidly vaulting them to national and international status. Led by guitarist/composer/visual artist Rob Levit, The Trio performs nationwide -- with recent shows in Coastal Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle/Bellingham, Washington, DC at the Smithsonian and Rock Hall, Maryland. Rob Levit has also appeared on the mainstage of the Montreal Jazz Festival, Texaco New York Jazz Festival, and the National Arts Centre as part of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival/ Their recently released CD, Uncertain Path, was played on NPR's Morning Edition and reviewed in over a dozen national media outlets, including Jazz Times, Jazz Improv, and All About Jazz.
"Each member of the ensemble is great as a player, but more importantly each plays a dynamic role in the service of the composition. Fans of great guitar and trio playing will certainly enjoy taking the paths that unfold throughout this contemporary recording."
Jazz Improv Magazine
“Levit’s s band furrows into fresh soil, implanting their own unique playing styles and compositional/arrangement savvy -- not usually heard among American Jazz trios of similar ilk.”
Abstract Logix
"Last night in a small Annapolis restaurant, I came face to face with musical greatness. Levit seemed unconstrained, both technically and imaginatively, launching into passages that recalled Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Wes Montgomery, Danny Gatton, and most especially John McLaughlin."
The Washington Post
Categories
- Performing Arts
- Sound Arts
- Community Arts
Keywords
music jazz improvisation guitar annapolis
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