“West Newton Pops” Q&A With Jeremiah Cossa

Q&A With Pianist Jeremiah Cossa

In anticipation of Cherry Street Music’s next Classical with a Twist concert, “West Newton Pops” on November 17th, we posed a few questions to the artists in the program to get to know them a bit better. Here’s what pianist Jeremiah Cossa had to say:

What keeps you busy professionally?

That is constantly changing. Right now the two ensemble projects I’m really invested in are my Punk band: Nurse Joy, and my Jazz trio: The Front Three. Nurse Joy plays a lot locally and we’ll be recording an EP towards the end of November. The trio is newer so we’re not playing all the time yet although we just played a great sold out show at Mad Monkfish in Cambridge. The music we play is really challenging and it constantly stretches the boundaries of my capabilities as an improviser so I’d say that right now the majority of my practice energy goes towards that. I’m a staff accompanist at Boston Conservatory so we are getting into the busy part of the semester there and I recently played a week of chamber music concerts in homeless shelters for the organization Shelter Music Boston, which were inspiring and uplifting. Since so much of what I do is freelance, this answer can be different every month!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I don’t know if it’s morbid to love a cemetery this much but my absolute favorite place around Boston is Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. The trees there are so beautiful this time of year and they have a tower that is the highest vantage point in a more than 10-mile radius, meaning it’s the best view anywhere in the city. Many of the gravestones are pristine and stunningly sculpted and there are a few really gorgeous ponds and great areas for conversation. I love movies so Coolidge Corner Theater is somewhere I take friends often, I’m a night owl so I enjoy catching their midnight showings, especially if it’s a horror movie. And you always have to take friends out to eat right? Oleana, Yume Wo Katare, and Bar Vlaha are some of my favorite restaurants at the moment.

For more information about each artist and about upcoming Cherry Street Music concerts, go HERE.