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Deanna Witkowski

New York City's best play in the park
Angelito Jusay
August 18, 2026, 12:30pm–2:30pm

A five, six, seven, eight…
Come on down and swing along to the best ragtime, stride, and jazz the Big Apple has to offer. With special performances on select Thursdays and sprinkled spontaneously throughout the season.

Find Piano in Bryant Park on the Upper Terrace at the base of the William Cullen Bryant Statue behind the New York Public Library.

Deanna Witkowski
Jazz Journalists Award for Biography of the Year (2022)

"Witkowski plays with muscular swagger." - All About Jazz

Known for her adventurous, engaging music that heals the soul, pianist, composer, and author Deanna Witkowski moves with remarkable ease between Brazilian, jazz, classical, and sacred music. Her first book, Mary Lou Williams: Music For The Soul, is the winner of the 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Biography of the Year. Her new recording, Force of Nature, reached number five on the JazzWeek nationwide radio chart and remained in the top ten most played albums on jazz radio for more than ten weeks in the spring of 2022. Following in the steps of her chosen soul companion and lifelong mentor, Witkowski relocated to Mary Lou Williams’ hometown of Pittsburgh in 2020.

Upcoming events