'Nick and Julia: The Start of Something Big' features American favorites

SUNY Oswego's first Ke-Nekt Chamber Music Series concert of the season will feature two rising stars as "Nick and Julia: The Start of Something Big" offers favorites from the Great American Songbook at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct.13 in the Sheldon Hall ballroom.

The college’s Oswego Jazz Project will accompany Central New York natives Nick Ziobro and Julia Goodwin, who each won Michael Feinstein’s Great American Songbook Vocal Competition at just 15 years old, and first met while working on a production of “13 The Musical.” 

Ziobro spent a year serving as The Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador and touring with Feinstein. During his opening stint in 2012, The New York Times praised his “easy swinging confidence and charm that suggested he could evolve into another Michael Buble.”

Ziobro also performed at the induction galas for the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame in 2012 and 2013 alongside Liza Minnell and other notable artists. He received an invite to perform the National Anthem at an Indianapolis Colts home game in 2012. Ziobro also was featured on season 10 of “America’s Got Talent,” and his voice can be heard in numerous TV and radio ads.

The New York Times described Goodwin as “phenomenally  gifted,” and she has performed at Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and a multitude of other renowned arenas. She also spent time as a Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador.

Goodwin has performed with notable artists from the worlds of jazz, pop, blues, Broadway and cabaret such as B.B. King, Michael McDonald, Kristin Chenowethm and countless others. Goodwin also was a guest performer at both the 2014 and 2017 Great American Songbook Hall of Fame Induction Galas. Goodwin is also an “America’s Got Talent” alum, performing on season 9, and has released singles “Got Me, Got You” and “When I Wake” available now on streaming and downloading services.

OJP returns

The Oswego Jazz Project consists of SUNY Oswego music faculty members Robert Auler on piano, Trevor Jorgensen on saxophone and Eric Schmitz on drums, with special guest and Syracuse University music instructor Spencer Phillips on bass.

“One of the things I particularly love about this concert is how it supports an emerging strength in our music department,” said Jorgensen, who chairs Oswego’s music department. “Our students love a variety of music, and right now, there is particular student interest and momentum in studying and performing in the jazz tradition. I know our students are going to be galvanized and energized by this concert.”

One of the annual Ke-Nekt series’ main goals “is to link on-campus faculty with incredible artists — and while I can’t wait to work with our guests, I’m also really excited to link up again with my faculty OJP colleagues for the first time since before the pandemic hit in March 2020," Jorgensen said.

“Our jazz studies program here at Oswego is booming -- both on the instrumental side and with singers who present material in this tradition,” Auler added. “So it has added importance to support our students' interests and capabilities.”

Tickets for the event, available via tickets.oswego.edu, are free for SUNY Oswego students; $5 for other students; $12 for faculty, staff and alumni; and $15 for the general public.