Ball & Socket Arts is thrilled to announce a very special edition of Live @ the Factory on July 25th with Dan Pugach Big Band featuring Nicole Zuraitis!
Bring your lawn chairs and a picnic dinner for an evening of original big band music from a Grammy-winning Dan Pugach Big Band featuring the Grammy-winning jazz vocalist, Nicole Zuraitis, at Bartlem Park's new bandshell!
Grab your spot and start your picnic at 5:30.
Music from 6-8 pm.
This event is produced by Ball & Socket Arts in partnership with Cheshire Public Library.
A reminder that this event takes place off-site at Bartlem Park: 520 S Main St, Cheshire, CT in the new bandshell. There is ample on-site parking available.
Rain will send the event to St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 59 Main St, Cheshire, CT.
Concert Presented by Ball & Socket Arts as part of Live @ the Factory. This night of music is sponsored by the Friends of the Cheshire Public Library and HB Live.
Dan Pugach is a GRAMMY® Award-winning drummer and composer and 3X nominee, a 3X recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award, a winner of the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize, and a Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Residency Program participant at the Kennedy Center. His latest big band album, Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence, comprised of all original compositions and featuring Nicole Zuraitis, won the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, as well as a Best Jazz Performance nomination for “Little Fears,” a song from the same album.
Dan was the featured drummer on the 2024 GRAMMY® Award winning album, How Love Begins, co-produced by Nicole Zuraitis and Christian McBride. His debut nonet album, Plus One (2018), was released on UNIT Records and charted on jazz radio in the top 20. Plus One includes Dan’s arrangement of “Jolene” (Dolly Parton), which was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award (Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals) alongside vocalist Nicole Zuraitis.
Dan is the leader of The Dan Pugach Nonet and the Dan Pugach Big Band, playing his original music and arrangements. The Nonet and Big Band tour regularly, and have played at Bird’s Eye Basel, The Zone in Tel Aviv, The Blue Note, Birdland Jazz Club, The 55bar, Smalls Jazz Club, The Jazz Loft, The Jazz Estate, Stowe Jazz Festival, and esteemed Performing Arts Centers across the country.
Dan currently lives in both Brooklyn, NY and Connecticut. Born in Israel, he served as the drummer for The Air Force Band in the IDF while attending the Rimon School of Jazz at the same time. Dan moved to the United States in 2006 and received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, he studied with Terri Lynn Carrington, Hal Crook, and Joe Lovano. He received his M.A in music from the City College of New York, where he studied with Mike Holober and Scott Reeves.