PUTNEY, Vt. – Joe Fiedler, Emmy-nominated music director and staff arranger for the famed children’s show “Sesame Street,” will perform at Next Stage Arts Friday, Nov. 19 with his project Open Sesame. The sextet will perform music from the group’s two releases, which explore diverse arrangements of classic Sesame Street songs.
“The musical director of Sesame Street performing at Next Stage!” exclaims Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts. “We are continuing to reach out and bring the best and brightest talent to the area. This group is an example of virtuosity, bridging popular culture and high art. Joe Fiedler’s work as a professional musician spans genre and style, and we’re proud to host his group ‘Open Sesame’ in Putney.”
In 2019, trombonist Joe Fiedler released Open Sesame, packed with inventive jazz readings of material drawn from his longstanding “day job” at Sesame Street. The effort was equally beloved by lay listeners and the jazz world alike.
When Fiedler and the band toured the music, including a stop at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola with guest luminaries Wynton Marsalis and none other than Elmo himself, the realization set in that the project would be no one-off. “I have these songbooks from the Sesame Street office,” Fiedler says, “and if you whip through the first 30 tunes, absolutely everyone knows them. But there are six or seven thousand songs they’ve done over the past 50 years, with plenty of gold in there to do a second album for sure.”
The sextet is comprised of Fiedler on trombone, Steven Bernstein on trumpet, Jeff Lederer on tenor/soprano sax and clarinet, Sean Conly on bass, and Michael Sarin on drums, plus guest vocalist Miles Griffith.
A native of Pittsburgh, Fiedler is an accomplished jazz improviser and bandleader with sideman credits including Andrew Hill, Charles Tolliver, Satoko Fujii, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz, and a host of others. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in a Children’s Series in 2013 and 2016. He plays lead trombone on the 2021 movie soundtrack album for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights,” contributing horn orchestrations for five major numbers and underscoring cues as well. While playing the “In the Heights” stage production in 2008 he met chief arranger Bill Sherman, who went on to hire Fiedler for a reboot of “The Electric Company” and then “Sesame Street” as well.
Proof of vaccination or negative Covid test within 48 hours required for entry to indoor shows. Masks required while inside the venue. For more information, go to www.nextstagearts.org.
This performance is made possible in part by the generous sponsorship of Oak Meadow.