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Press Releases
'Self-Portrait: Ricky Ian Gordon,' February 7th
NEW YORK, NY – The Dessoff Choirs’ Mid-Winter Festival, WORD•PLAY, continues on February 7 with Self-Portrait: Ricky Ian Gordon at the Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium, 417 East 61th Street. This intimate evening features the award-winning composer-lyricist performing his music and sharing stories about his life and deep relationship with poetry.
Gordon’s passion for poetry dates back to his childhood and has provided inspiration for a great deal of his works since. He describes his motivation to compose music set to poems, “I set poems to music because by doing so, they enter me like fresh water and they seem to clear away the cobwebs. It is like putting the right info into my hard drive as an antidote to all the spam. Poetry is often my savior.” His 2012 album, Silver Rain, is a compilation of songs he wrote set to the poetry of Langston Hughes, performed by soprano Nicole Cabell. A recent review in Gramophone said of the album, “In short, his songs are gems of concision and emotional directness.”
Gordon is also widely known for his critically acclaimed operas, including The Grapes of Wrath, and Orpheus and Euridice. His autobiographic opera, Green Sneakers, is set to have its NY Premiere at Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” on April 6, 2013.
This program is part of the Dessoff Choirs’ WORDPLAY festival that celebrates choral music as a literary art form. It is presented by The Dessoff Choirs, led by Music Director Christopher Shepard, in venues around New York City from January 15 through March 16. Upcoming events include a public master class, Life of a Song: The Art of (Re)Writing on February 9, and A Night of Wonders featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Geraldine Brooks on March 15 and 16.
TICKETS: $15-40, children under 12 free for all programs. For discounted festival packages and individual tickets, please visit dessoff.org, or call (212) 831-8224.
PRESS TICKETS: For press tickets, artist bios or images, please contact Amy Laudicano, 212.874.7624, alaudicano@lcohnpr.com
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ricky Ian Gordon
The music of award-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon, wrote The New York Times, blurs “the lines between art song and the high-end Broadway music of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim … It’s caviar for a world gorging on pizza.” His songs have been performed by such internationally renowned artists as Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and Frederica Von Stade. An accomplished opera composer, best known for The Grapes Of Wrath, he is currently working on a commission for the Metropolitan Opera with playwright Lynn Nottage, and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis with librettist Michael Korie. Mr. Gordon returns this season to Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His awards and honors include The Stephen Sondheim Award, The Helen Hayes Award, an Alumni Merit Award from Carnegie-Mellon University, The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation Award, and an OBIE.
PROGRAM: “SELF-PORTRAIT: RICKY IAN GORDON” Saturday, February 7, 8:00 pm Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium 417 East 61th Street, New York City
Gordon’s passion for poetry dates back to his childhood and has provided inspiration for a great deal of his works since. He describes his motivation to compose music set to poems, “I set poems to music because by doing so, they enter me like fresh water and they seem to clear away the cobwebs. It is like putting the right info into my hard drive as an antidote to all the spam. Poetry is often my savior.” His 2012 album, Silver Rain, is a compilation of songs he wrote set to the poetry of Langston Hughes, performed by soprano Nicole Cabell. A recent review in Gramophone said of the album, “In short, his songs are gems of concision and emotional directness.”
Gordon is also widely known for his critically acclaimed operas, including The Grapes of Wrath, and Orpheus and Euridice. His autobiographic opera, Green Sneakers, is set to have its NY Premiere at Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” on April 6, 2013.
This program is part of the Dessoff Choirs’ WORDPLAY festival that celebrates choral music as a literary art form. It is presented by The Dessoff Choirs, led by Music Director Christopher Shepard, in venues around New York City from January 15 through March 16. Upcoming events include a public master class, Life of a Song: The Art of (Re)Writing on February 9, and A Night of Wonders featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Geraldine Brooks on March 15 and 16.
TICKETS: $15-40, children under 12 free for all programs. For discounted festival packages and individual tickets, please visit dessoff.org, or call (212) 831-8224.
PRESS TICKETS: For press tickets, artist bios or images, please contact Amy Laudicano, 212.874.7624, alaudicano@lcohnpr.com
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ricky Ian Gordon
The music of award-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon, wrote The New York Times, blurs “the lines between art song and the high-end Broadway music of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim … It’s caviar for a world gorging on pizza.” His songs have been performed by such internationally renowned artists as Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and Frederica Von Stade. An accomplished opera composer, best known for The Grapes Of Wrath, he is currently working on a commission for the Metropolitan Opera with playwright Lynn Nottage, and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis with librettist Michael Korie. Mr. Gordon returns this season to Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His awards and honors include The Stephen Sondheim Award, The Helen Hayes Award, an Alumni Merit Award from Carnegie-Mellon University, The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation Award, and an OBIE.
PROGRAM: “SELF-PORTRAIT: RICKY IAN GORDON” Saturday, February 7, 8:00 pm Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium 417 East 61th Street, New York City
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