The Jerry Szabo Trio will perform in tonight's Bluffton Town Hall Concert Series.

The performance is at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 14, in the third floor of the Bluffton town hall, 154 N. Main St.

Members of the trio are Szabo, Dave Sycks and Dean Alstaetter. The performance is free and open to the public.

The Trio
Jerry Szabo is the founder of the Jerry Szabo Trio.  He has freelanced as an oboist and drummer in New York City with Barbra Streisand among others.

David B. Sycks is the 5-12 Band Director in the Bluffton Exempted Village School District; a position he has held since 1994.  In addition, he has held positions at both Bluffton University and Ohio Northern University as Applied Trumpet Instructor. He received a Master of Music Degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies from Capital University. 

After years of free-lancing, he pursued a teaching certificate from Wright State University. Over the years, he has appeared with several artists, including Bob Hope, Florence Henderson, Jim Nabors, Jon Faddis, Gary Carney, Marvin Stamm, Clark Terry, Norris Turney, Al Hirt, Ringling Brothers, The O Jays, Guy Lombardo and Bob Newhart. 

He currently performs with Swingmania, the Kim Kelly Orchestra, the Jerry Szabo Trio, the Stan Sterner Orchestra, Lima Swing 2000, the Brass Roots and the Bluffton Brass Quintet. He can also be heard occasionally with the Lima Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Jazz Orchestra.

Dean Altstaetter, pianist, grew up in Northwest Ohio. As a piano performance major he studied classical music with Marvin Blickenstaff at Goshen College. He studied piano teaching at The Ohio State University and music theory/compostion/jazz at Bowling Green State University.

He served on the piano faculty at Ohio Northern University for 13 years. On the weekends he is playing keyboards with the local rock band, the Hipnotix and Fleetwood to the Max (Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band), from Lima.

He is also the principle organist/pianist at Trinity United Methodist Church. He offers a wide range of music including vocal standards, show tunes, jazz, blues and has expanded on the traditional lounge repertoire to include classic rock, r&b, and some of today’s hits by request. Dean also creates jazz groups (trios, quartets, quintets) for special events.