Rubato

Rubato was formed in 2019 and is a mid-Michigan based trio dedicated to entertaining and educating audiences on a wide variety of music from all genres. In addition to performing existing works and commissioning new repertoire for their unique ensemble, the trio also transcribes and arranges works written for other instruments to perform. Rubato’s repertoire ranges from jazz to classical to music of other cultures and modern works, and their performances are infused with musicality, expressive playing and energy. The joy the musicians get from making music together is reflected through their conversational music style and interactive playing, which engages audiences of all ages.                   

Rubato founding member, flutist and Artistic Director Mary Procopio has been an active performer, educator, clinician and adjudicator throughout Michigan and New York. She was flutist, founder, and Artistic Director of the London Trio, a group that performed throughout Michigan as part of the Michigan Arts and Humanities Touring Program, including two appearances at the East Lansing Arts Festival. Mary has lectured on and premiered new works and arrangements for flute by Haitian composers at national and international conferences of the Society for Ethnomusicology, the College Music Society, the Haitian Studies Association, and the National Flute Association, and has been a guest lecturer and artist-in-residence at several universities and festivals in Michigan, West Virginia, and France. In 2014 Mary was a contributing author for the new Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, and in 2006 she had two articles published in the Flutist Quarterly, the international publication of the NFA. Mary has served on the Board of Directors for the Haitian Studies Association and the Southeast Michigan Flute Association, and has been the Director of Instrumental Studies at Mott Community College since 2006.    

Saxophonist Dirk Nieuwenhuis has been an active performer throughout Michigan as a soloist and ensemble member in both jazz and classical ensembles. His jazz trio, Moments Notice, played throughout the Greater Flint area for various jazz and community events. Dirk has been a long-time member of the Genesee Wind Symphony where he serves as co-Principal alto saxophone, as well as former principal alto saxophone with the Genesee Valley Concert Band and the Flint Concert Band. He has been a featured soloist with the above groups, as well as with the Mott Community College Concert Band, and has played in pit orchestras with Clio Cast and Crew, U of M Flint Theater, and through other venues. Dirk is also a member of Old Days, a professional Chicago tribute band that performs extensively throughout Michigan on concert series and at music festivals and community events. Dirk is a founding member of Rubato and performs on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone.

Pianist Pat Cronley joined Rubato in 2022 and has been a professional musician since age sixteen. While in high school Pat studied piano with Larry MacDonald, and credits that experience as the most influential of his musical career. While his main focus is jazz, Pat’s unique pianistic approach lends itself to many styles. Pat also composes—primarily for Public Television—including a work that won him an Emmy Award in 2011. In 2002 Pat founded Jazz on Wheels, a non-profit mobile concert series that performs for music festivals and community events, including their Friday night Jazz concerts at the old Farmers’ Market in downtown Flint. Jazz on Wheelsis designed to provide inner-city kids with much-needed diversion and entertainment, and was initially formed to fill part of the void left by diminishing cultural and arts opportunities in the Flint school system. In 2022 JOW was awarded a Levitt AMP grant to produce a free concert series in downtown Flint in 2023 and beyond.