Music Night at Bogies | Cory Pesaturo and Leah Zeger ($10 cover)
August 15, 2017
Tuesday | August 15, 2017 | 7:30pm | Music Night at Bogies | Cory Pesaturo and Leah Zeger ($10 cover)
Cory Pesaturo (“C Pez”) is one the forefront of the accordion world, pushing the boundaries on multiple fronts of what is possible with the accordion. The only person to ever win a World Championship on Acoustic, Digital And Jazz Accordion, and is the only recent graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. Accordions most famous legend, Dick Contino, said when Cory was only 15, “Of all the accordionists I’ve seen over the years, Cory is the one to pass the torch to, the only one who has all the tools to bring the accordion back to its former glory.” Cory’s main contribution is his visionary thinking of how the accordion should be used, played, taught, and presented in modern music. He has given a TED Talk about this, which is currently the only talk in the world about the accordion. Pesaturo is additionally developing his own electric accordion, and already has made the first ever skinned accordion that includes a symmetric midi lighting system attached to the keys.
Leah Zeger's musical success story has been anything but conventional. Her eclectic range and professional experience has literally included every musical style imaginable.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, violinist and vocalist Zeger comes from a family of professional symphony musicians. Having played the violin since the age of six, she has won numerous awards and soloed with orchestras in and around Texas. At 15, she made her solo debut playing the first movement of the Wiieniawski Violin Concerto with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra. That same year, Zeger began studying voice with leading American mezzo-soprano, Katherine Ciesinski. Zeger attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts. Before graduating high school, she performed the “Bach Double” at Carnegie Hall. She won a scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin where she double-majored in opera and violin. At 19 years of age, while earning her degrees, she won a tenured position in the 1st violin section of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest member on staff.
While in the Austin Symphony, Zeger played with soloists including Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowitz, Yo Yo Ma, and Elvis Costello, as well bands such as Pink Martini, The 4 Tops, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Charlie Daniels, with whom she was selected to duel on the tune “Devil Went Down to Georgia”. She has appeared on the television show Austin City Limits with both Pearl Jam and Willie Nelson.
Zeger has performed and recorded two premier concertos composed by Austin film composer, Graham Reynolds. Her former international touring band, The Hudsons, won Best Folk Band of 2009 in the Austin Chronicle Awards.
She performed as the lead singer, violinist, and dancer with the international world-touring fiddle concert sensation, Barrage, across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. She has also appeared as a soloist at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Blues Festival in Chicago, alongside prominent artists Alison Krauss, John Mayer, and Sheryl Crow. Zeger is the lead singer, violinist, and writer for the jazz-infused pop group, Leah and the Moonlighters. Their self-titled album has been aired on stations worldwide.
Zeger has performed as a member of Vitamin String Quartet and won positions as associate concertmaster of San Bernardino Symphony and first violinist in the Redlands Symphony while recording the music for a season of Warner Brother's TV show, Off the Map.
She has performed with Strunz and Farah and Gonzalo Bergara at international music festivals, including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, Panama City Jazz Festival, SXSW in Austin, and Jazz at the Olympia in Paris. She has also toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Miley Cyrus, and five-time Grammy-winner Cee Lo Green.
Zeger's recording credits include collaborations with Michael Jackson's former musical director, Michael Bearden; Bear McCreary, composer of Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead; Kenny Loggins; and string arrangements/recording for Billy Ray Cyrus. She is a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and resides in Los Angeles.
