Kaufman Center Press Releases
Merkin Concert Hall presents Elliott Carter’s First Hundred Years (Nov. 23, 2008)
Kaufman Center’s Musically Speaking series continues with Elliott Carter’s First Hundred Years featuring Elliott Carter, New York Woodwind Quintet and pianist Ursula Oppens. In honor of Mr. Carter’s 100th birthday, the NYWQ and Ms. Oppens will perform works that span the composer’s entire career. The program will demonstrate how Mr. Carter’s musical language evolved, resulting in the vibrant, unique voice of his maturity. Frank J. Oteri of the American Music Center will conduct a preconcert interview with Mr. Carter and the performers at 7:00 pm. The evening’s repertoire includes the following Carter pieces: Pastorale (1941), Eight Etudes and a Fantasy (1949), Woodwind Quintet (1948), Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux (1985), Gra Polish: "to play"(1993), Retracing (2002), Scrivo in Vento (1991), Steep Steps (2001), Two Thoughts about the Piano (2005-06) and Quintet for piano and winds (1991).
Merkin Concert Hall presents Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Review (Dec. 14 & 21, 2008)
Kaufman Center proudly presents two performances of the holiday family favorite, Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Revue, at Merkin Concert Hall. Join us for a joyous celebration of the New York Hanukkah experience in this revue of songs and scenes by some of New York’s funniest writers. More than 20 rising New York musical theater writers were commissioned to create short pieces, including a Hanukkah version of A Christmas Carol, a touching story of a mother and daughter making latkes together, a parody of American Idol, the story of “Thomas, the Shammus,” the lonely hearts love song The Only Jew in Juneau, Alaska, and the klezmer-inspired title tune.
Merkin Concert Hall Presents Tuesday Matinees: Jasper String Quartet (Nov. 4, 2008)
Kaufman Center presents its longest-running series, Tuesday Matinees, with the Jasper String Quartet. Fresh from winning four of chamber music’s most prestigious prizes — the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2008 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Silver Medal at the 2008 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs 2008, and the Grand Prize at the 2008 Coleman competition — the Jasper String Quartet is currently the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, where they study with the Tokyo String Quartet.
Merkin Concert Hall Presents Translating ‘Trane: A Love Supreme (Nov. 8, 2008)
Kaufman Center’s Musically Speaking series continues with Translating ‘Trane: A Love Supreme featuring the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island String Quartet: David Balakrishnan, violin, baritone violin; Mark Summer, cello; Mads Tolling, violin and Jeremy Kittel, viola. In 1964, when John Coltrane released his groundbreaking album A Love Supreme, he took jazz to a whole new plane. With its recent Grammy Award-winning version of the work translating it into the sonorities of the string quartet, Turtle Island String Quartet created its own page of musical history. Bridging the gap between concert halls and jazz clubs, this iconoclastic quartet has redefined the boundaries of chamber music.
Merkin Concert Hall presents Lisa Moore: Wires, Words and Hammers (Oct. 28, 2008)
September 17, 2008 – Merkin Concert Hall’s Musically Speaking series features the groundbreaking work of pianist Lisa Moore, a musician hailed by the New York Times as “executing nearly every feat known to a new musician.”
Broadway Close Up: Maltby & Shire Press Release
October 6, 2008 – Merkin Concert Hall’s Broadway Close Up series continues with Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire. Together Maltby (Tony Award for Ain’t Misbehaving, lyricist of Miss Saigon and The Pirate Queen) and Shire (Academy Award-winning composer of “It Goes Like It Goes” from Norma Rae) have created numerous on- and off-Broadway shows, including Baby, Big, Closer Than Ever, Starting Here, Starting Now and the upcoming Take Flight.
Lucy Moses School announces the Auditions for Nashir! The Rottenberg Chorale are Being Held
Nashir! The Rottenberg Chorale are being held Tuesday, October 28 and Tuesday, February 10, 6pm. Call 212 501 3360 to sign up for an audition time. Join one of New York's finest amateur vocal ensembles dedicated to performing a wide range of Jewish repertoire that spans continents and centuries. Praised by the New York Times for the professional quality of its performers, Nashir! brings a sense of joy and passion to Jewish choral music and encompasses a repertoire that is both spiritual and whimsical.
Merkin Concert Hall presents ISRAEL AT 60! Prologue & Epilogues: Israel Moves On (Oct. 28, 2008)
September 30, 2008 – Merkin Concert Hall continues the celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s beloved Quartet for the End of Time performed by an international group of Israeli, French and American musicians. Written in the German POW camp Stalag VIII-A, Messiaen’s work flew in the face of Nazi oppression and solidly established him as one of the most important composers of his time. This concert brings together the virtuoso clarinetist Charles Neidich and a group of top performers representing the younger generation including clarinetist Moran Katz, cellist Gal Nyska, violinist Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Vincent Balse. The concert will honor the composer’s centenary while also highlighting the multi-cultural music of Israeli composers.
Messiaen’s free spirit and eclectic use of eastern modes and rhythms inform the chamber music of the Israeli composers on the program—Ben-Haim, Weisenberg and Zorman—as they adopted the music of their surroundings and created a voice all their own. This performance is a copresentation of Merkin Concert Hall and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Merkin Concert Hall presents Broadway Close Up: Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (Oct. 6, 2008)
The opening concert of Merkin Concert Hall’s Broadway Close Up series features the songs of legends Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Jones and Schmidt launched their New York careers with their now legendary musical The Fantasticks, which became the longest-running musical both in the world and in the history of the American theater. Their subsequent musicals, both on Broadway and off, have continued to be original, innovative and delightfully eccentric. Join lyricist Tom Jones, host Sean Hartley and some of New York’s finest performers to celebrate their unique career.
New York Festival of Song 2008-09 at Merkin Concert Hall
New York Festival Of Song (NYFOS, http://www.nyfos.org), co-founded and directed by pianists Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, who “reinvented the song recital during the 1990’s with daring and dramatic programming” (The New Yorker), announces its 21st season (2008-2009).