Preservation New Jersey is pleased to welcome acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Vin Downes back with contemporary pianist Heidi Breyer for an evening of peaceful music in the exquisite acoustics of the 1867 Sanctuary! The concert will feature beautiful guitar playing included alongside piano pieces, a couple of duets, and a sneak peek of music from Heidi Breyer’s upcoming album. Heidi will be donating her earnings from the concert to MusicCares which is the official Grammy outreach organization currently collecting for Harvey and Irma relief for those musicians who have been displaced. Says Heidi, People need music and musicians need people…Please consider joining us!! Thank You!!

British born and conservatory educated, at Trinity College of Music in London, Heidi Breyer (www.heidibreyer.com) now resides in the artistic community of Frenchtown, New Jersey a bucolic and inspiring setting where she composes her music, prepares for her multi-media concerts, teaches piano and violin and manages the business of her husband, world-renowned Russian-American painter, Alexander Volkov.

Heidi is currently creating her fifth album, written entirely in response to 12 specific artworks of her husband, which is set to be recorded at Imaginary Road Studios as a Trio of Producers with Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton.

In parallel she has been writing a Requiem, with traditional Latin Text, scored for piano, vocal and instrumental soloists and string orchestra, pegged for release in November 2019. Two Premiers are being planned for London and NYC.

In January 2015, Heidi Breyer released her fourth album, Letters From Far Away. It is a double piano solo and piano instrumental featuring an electic mix of beautiful and gutsy pieces showcasing her depth of emotion, range of technique and most importantly conveying the love story behind the title. The album received worldwide acclaim. Winner of ZMR Best Instrumental Piano Album 2012, ZMR Best Instrumental Piano Album 2010 , ZMR Best New Artist 2010 and nominated ZMR Best Holiday Album 2011. Heidi has four albums to her credit – Beyond The Turning (2012), Another Place and Time (2010) and Winter Light, (2009) and now Letters From Far Away (2015).

She opened the first ever live ZMR Awards show in 2013 in New Orleans and has since performed on stages world-wide and her music has been featured on many compilations and productions including the Grammy Nominated Album for Best Spoken Word, “The Storm King” an Auto Biographical Narration by the late Pete Seeger, produced by Jeff Haynes, Will Ackerman’s “The Gathering” CD’s (West River Records) and Many Miles Music (a Seattle based label).

Vin Downes (www.vindownes.com) began studying guitar at the age of eleven. His early interests were in electric guitar, but this all changed when he heard the opening notes of David Cullen’s “Along the Way” on a Windham Hill Records guitar sampler. He immediately immersed himself in the fingerstyle music of Will Ackerman, Michael Hedges, David Cullen and Leo Kottke.

Greatly influenced by the music of artists on Windham Hill Records in the late 1980’s, Downes furthered his interest of fingerstyle technique and composition by earning a degree in classical guitar performance and music education from William Paterson University. While at WPU, he studied classical composition and had several of his compositions performed by soloists and ensembles, including the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Helix Ensemble and members of the Composer’s Guild of New Jersey.

Vin Downes has released four studio albums, two of which were produced by Grammy Award winning guitarist and producer, Will Ackerman. He is currently a performing member of The Gathering – A Concert Series presented by Will Ackerman.

He has recorded and performed with musicians including Will Ackerman, Tom Eaton, Michael Manring, Eugene Friesen, Liz Story and Tony Levin.

Vin Downes is a public school music teacher in New Jersey, where he currently teaches classical guitar at Bayonne High School.

Vin Downes is a Riverwide Records (www.riverwiderecords.com) recording artist. Vin Downes is a Stonebridge Guitars Artist