Berman Artists Jane Monheit and Mike Kanan ’81 featured at Flurry

With every new crop of sixies, Roxbury Latin is primed with potential: budding writers, actors, mathematicians, athletes, and artists. In 1975, one such sixie, Mike Kanan, expressed a passion for music from the start and was known throughout his R.L. years as an outstanding soloist. Brilliant though he was at that time, his teenage years were a pale foreshadowing of the career success he would enjoy.

 

On Friday, 23 February, Mr. Kanan, who now lives in Brooklyn, returned to school with jazz vocalist Jane Monheit as this year’s Berman Artists in Residence. Since graduating with the R.L. Class of 1981, Mr. Kanan studied with internationally-renowned jazz pianist Harvey Diamond, accompanied legendary vocalist Jimmy Diamond, and today studies classical music with pianist Sophia Rosoff. He has been the pianist and arranger for Ms. Monheit’s band since 2001, touring all over the world and performing on several of her albums and cds.

 

Ms. Monheit, whose recordings have earned her two Grammy nominations, has collaborated with such artists as Michael Buble and John Pizzarelli. She has been featured on the nationally-televised Christmas at the White House and other high-profile U.S. Capitol events. Ms. Monheit’s newest album, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald, is a tribute to Ms. Fitzgerald’s songbook album.

 

We are especially fortunate when the greater school community can also enjoy the bounty that our Berman Artists bring to Roxbury Latin boys. As have a number of our recent Berman Artists, Ms. Monheit and Mr. Kanan shared their talent with R.L. parents as the featured entertainment for the February Flurry on the evening of 24 February. Photos from this year’s annual winter social (masterfully inspired, designed, and conducted by the Parents’ Auxiliary) can be viewed here.