Fordham professor to speak before 'Sinatra at 100' concert

Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis will focus his talk on Sinatra’s comeback in the 1950s.
Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis will focus his talk on Sinatra’s comeback in the 1950s. | Contributed photo

Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis, an assistant professor in the Department of Art History and Music at Fordham University, will be giving a pre-show talk on Frank Sinatra to alumni attending the “Sinatra at 100” concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The show, a part of the sold out Fordham Alumni Culture and Entertainment event inspired by the centenary of Sintara’s birth, will highlight the singer and actor’s career.

Lincoln-Decusatis, a composer of chamber and orchestral music from the classical tradition as well as a jazz pianist, will focus his talk on Sinatra’s comeback in the 1950s.

A student of both classical tradition and jazz, Lincoln-Decusatis blends them together in his instruction at Fordham. It’s not just his music that departs from a purely classical approach though, but his teaching as well.

“You’re not studying music necessarily to become a concert pianist, that’s a very old-fashioned and narrow conservatory approach,” he said. “Music is just like anything else in the humanities; there’s not an exact job that corresponds to an English major. This is not a pre-professional training program or trade school.”

Through a research grant, Lincoln-DeCusatis is working with an ensemble composition that involves both big band and chamber classical.