Jazz pianist Zach Bartholomew is scheduled to lead a John Coltrane centennial concert on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs.
Coltrane was born on Sept. 23, 1926, so the 100th anniversary of his birth has already passed. The Bonita Springs date is a later local reading of that catalog, not a birthday-night premiere. Bartholomew's shows page lists a quartet featuring saxophonist David Fernandez and a program of Coltrane's music running from ballads through driving rhythms and improvisation.
What the Evening Is Built Around
The listing describes the group as a dynamic quartet and names Fernandez on saxophone. It does not identify the other players or assign them instruments, so the billed draw is the repertoire and the saxophonist out front.
That repertoire is framed as a sweep of Coltrane's writing rather than a single-album recreation. Haunting ballads, harder rhythmic material and open improvisation are the three poles the page actually promises. Listeners looking for a set list will not find one there.
Tickets and the Student Rate
Prices are listed at $48 for Tier 1, $43 for Tier 2 and $38 for Tier 3. A $15 student ticket is available in Tier 3 with valid student identification.
Those figures are what the shows page posts for the Nov. 19 date. Tier names do not come with seat maps or a stated cutoff, so the practical distinction on the page is price, plus the student rate tied to ID.
The Pianist Already in Residence
Bartholomew is a resident artist at Arts Bonita in Bonita Springs and a full-time music professor at Florida Memorial University, according to his biography. The concert sits on a calendar he already shares with the local arts center, rather than a one-night import with no local tie.
The same bio notes top-three finishes in the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition in both 2016 and 2017. Since 2021, he has received Florida's Artist Performance on Tour grant every year for his Jazz Access Tour, a run of state support aimed at taking that project on the road.
Philadelphia's Longer Centennial
Coltrane came of age in Philadelphia, and that city is marking the same birthday on a much wider scale. Coltrane100 Philly is a season of performances, exhibitions, education programming and community events, with landmark programming around the 100th birthday and a November tribute to the 60th anniversary of Offering: Live at Temple University.
Jazz Philadelphia's Coltrane Community Project Grant puts money in the hands of local jazz artists for community programming tied to that legacy. It is a Philadelphia program, not a funder of the Bonita Springs date. The comparison is scale: one citywide season there, one quartet night here.
In Bonita Springs, the listed next step is simpler. The concert is Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m., with adult tickets listed from $38 to $48 and the $15 student option in Tier 3 for anyone who brings valid student identification.
