Clarinetist, Saxophonist Anat Cohen to Perform in Jazz Room at William Paterson University March 1

Virtuoso clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen will perform as part of the Jazz Room Series at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts.

“Cohen is one of the most in-demand artists on the New York jazz scene,” stated a press release. “Her clarinet and saxophone adapt easily to the worlds of swing, jazz, klezmer, Brazilian music and more.”

Cohen, who has been voted Clarinetist of the Year six years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association, ”consistently tops DownBeat magazine polls in various categories.”

Cohen was born in Tel Aviv and was raised in a musical family. She began clarinet studies when she was 12 and “played jazz on the clarinet for the first time in the Jaffa Conservatory Dixieland band,” stated a press release. She then joined the school’s big band when she was 16 and learned to play the tenor saxophone.

Cohen was able to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston though the World Scholarship Tour. Now her latest CD ranges from “buoyant dances to darkly lyrical ballads, drawing inspiration from New Orleans and New York, Africa and Brazil.”

Tickets are $15, or $12 for senior citizens and William Paterson faculty, staff, and alumni, $8 for non-William Paterson students, and free for William Paterson students with a valid I.D. They are available in advance at the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371 or wp-presents.org. There will also be an additional $3 charge for tickets purchased on show day.

Before the concert, Cohen will be the guest for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 p.m. in Shea Center 101. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticket holders.