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Press Releases
Orchestra of St. Luke’s Launches New Annual Multi-Disciplinary Chamber Music Festival at the Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum
FIRST YEAR THEME IS
FACETS OF SCHUBERT
JUNE 7 – 25, 2017
Three Programs Feature Conversation with New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, composer Steven Mackey, curators from the Morgan Library & Museum and St. Luke’s President James Roe
Soprano Ying Fang and Pianist Henry Kramer to Join St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble
New York, New York, April 25, 2017 — Orchestra of St. Luke’s will debut Facets of Schubert, the first iteration of the Ensemble’s new chamber music festival at the Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum, from June 7 through 25. This inaugural edition will present three richly curated programs that illuminate Schubert’s life and music through performance, conversation with notable speakers, and literary narrative read in concert with music. The Festival will take place each June and focus on a selected composer every year.
The Festival’s 2017 initial season Facets of Schubert takes three chamber music masterpieces as entry points for explorations of the composer's art and life. Programs feature the centrality of song, finished works that Schubert never heard and unfinished fragments, and the world premiere of Adam Gopnik's literary response to the composer’s monumental Octet.
Guest artists joining St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble are Metropolitan Opera principal soprano Ying Fang and award-winning pianist Henry Kramer. In addition to New Yorker writer & essayist Adam Gopnik; guest speakers include composer, electric guitarist, Grammy Award-winner and former Princeton Music Department Chair Steven Mackey; St. Luke’s President and Executive Director James Roe; The Morgan Library & Museum’s Assistant Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts Carolyn Vega, and Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints Ilona van Tuinen.
"When the Morgan Library & Museum opened its splendid Gilder Lerhman Hall in 2006, St. Luke's was one of the first ensembles to begin presenting a regular series in the space,” stated President and Executive Director James Roe. “Now, with the launch of our new festival, we add a vital annual event to the city's cultural calendar. We are thrilled that this also marks an expansion of performance activity at The Brooklyn Museum."
“The attempt to mix words and music in a concert setting is a high-risk one, especially in a case like this, where the music is so entirely beautiful that it makes any words nugatory,” said Adam Gopnik. “Still, Schubert, greatest of song writers, was never afraid to entangle words and music, and it will be my effort, in these concerts, to staple some verse about the effects of Schubert’s music in a single life, my own, onto Schubert himself. The discrepancy in quality will doubtless be felt, but so, I hope, will the sincerity of the stapling.”
FACETS OF SCHUBERT
Program I: Trout Quintet & The Art of Song This opening program will guide the audience through the juncture of Schubert’s vocal and instrumental music. Renowned composer and electric guitarist Steven Mackey will offer insights on writing music for voice.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Friday, June 9, 2017 6:15 PM Pre-concert Conversation 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 11, 2017 12:30 PM Pre-concert Conversation 2 PM Concert
Ying Fang, soprano Henry Kramer, piano Steven Mackey, speaker St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Selected songs including “Trockne Blumen” and “Die Forelle” “Trockne Blumen” for flute and piano, Introduction and Variations Piano Quintet in A Major, “Trout”
Program II: Cello Quintet & Unfinished Works Because Schubert’s life was cut tragically short by illness, a body of his work was left unfinished, and many completed pieces were never heard by the composer—or anyone—during his life. These concerts combine the unfinished with the unheard. The Morgan’s Carolyn Vega, Assistant Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, and Ilona van Tuinen, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints, join OSL’s James Roe, President and Executive Director, in a pre-concert conversation on the theme of unfinished artistic works.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Friday, June 16, 2017 6:15 PM Pre-concert Discussion 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 18, 2017 12:45 PM Pre-concert Discussion 2 PM Concert
St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Fragments and movements from: String Trio in B-flat Major Quartettsatz in D Minor String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Program III: Octet with Readings by Adam Gopnik Here, the music of Schubert’s Octet is paired in dialogue with one of New York’s most distinctive literary voices and a great fan of the composer, Adam Gopnik. Between movements of the Octet, Gopnik will read the original narrative about the intersection of music and life, which was commissioned by Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Conversation with the author following each performance will explore the process of creating this unique work.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Friday, June 23, 2017 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 25, 2017 2 PM Concert
Adam Gopnik, speaker St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Octet in F Major Essays and Readings
Tickets and Information: The Morgan Library & Museum’s three-concert subscriptions is priced at $140, (members and past OSL subscribers receive a $30 discount), single tickets are $50 (members receive a $10 discount). The Brooklyn Museum’s three-concert Subscriptions is priced at $90 (members and past OSL subscribers receive a $10 discount), single tickets are $40 (members receive a $10 discount). Tickets may be purchased by calling 212.594.6100 or visiting OSLmusic.org. Free admission for ages 19 and under.
Orchestra of St. Luke’s and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Now in its 43rd year, Orchestra of St. Luke’s grew out of a versatile chamber ensemble that began performing concerts at New York’s Church of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village in 1974. Today, OSL performs approximately 80 concerts each year, including its Carnegie Hall Orchestra Series, Chamber Music Series at The Morgan Library & Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Caramoor Summer Season. A champion of new music, OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works, and given more than 175 world, U.S., and New York City premieres in its 43-year history, including the New York premiere of John Adams’s Nixon in China and the world premieres of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem, Steve Reich’s Duet, and William Bolcom’s The Hawthorne Tree. The Orchestra has appeared on more than 100 recordings, including four Grammy Award winners and seven releases on its own label. OSL owns and operates The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, which provides rehearsal, recording, and performance space for more than 30,000 musicians annually, hosts free concerts and events for more than 10,000 New York City students and families, and provides after-school instrumental instruction for the 125 members of the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s. For more information, visit OSLmusic.org.
Media Contacts Pascal Nadon Communications pascal@pascalnadon.com (646) 234-7088
Orchestra of St. Luke’s Stephen Litner, Director of External Affairs slitner@OSLmusic.org (212) 594-6100 x103
Three Programs Feature Conversation with New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, composer Steven Mackey, curators from the Morgan Library & Museum and St. Luke’s President James Roe
Soprano Ying Fang and Pianist Henry Kramer to Join St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble
New York, New York, April 25, 2017 — Orchestra of St. Luke’s will debut Facets of Schubert, the first iteration of the Ensemble’s new chamber music festival at the Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum, from June 7 through 25. This inaugural edition will present three richly curated programs that illuminate Schubert’s life and music through performance, conversation with notable speakers, and literary narrative read in concert with music. The Festival will take place each June and focus on a selected composer every year.
The Festival’s 2017 initial season Facets of Schubert takes three chamber music masterpieces as entry points for explorations of the composer's art and life. Programs feature the centrality of song, finished works that Schubert never heard and unfinished fragments, and the world premiere of Adam Gopnik's literary response to the composer’s monumental Octet.
Guest artists joining St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble are Metropolitan Opera principal soprano Ying Fang and award-winning pianist Henry Kramer. In addition to New Yorker writer & essayist Adam Gopnik; guest speakers include composer, electric guitarist, Grammy Award-winner and former Princeton Music Department Chair Steven Mackey; St. Luke’s President and Executive Director James Roe; The Morgan Library & Museum’s Assistant Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts Carolyn Vega, and Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints Ilona van Tuinen.
"When the Morgan Library & Museum opened its splendid Gilder Lerhman Hall in 2006, St. Luke's was one of the first ensembles to begin presenting a regular series in the space,” stated President and Executive Director James Roe. “Now, with the launch of our new festival, we add a vital annual event to the city's cultural calendar. We are thrilled that this also marks an expansion of performance activity at The Brooklyn Museum."
“The attempt to mix words and music in a concert setting is a high-risk one, especially in a case like this, where the music is so entirely beautiful that it makes any words nugatory,” said Adam Gopnik. “Still, Schubert, greatest of song writers, was never afraid to entangle words and music, and it will be my effort, in these concerts, to staple some verse about the effects of Schubert’s music in a single life, my own, onto Schubert himself. The discrepancy in quality will doubtless be felt, but so, I hope, will the sincerity of the stapling.”
FACETS OF SCHUBERT
Program I: Trout Quintet & The Art of Song This opening program will guide the audience through the juncture of Schubert’s vocal and instrumental music. Renowned composer and electric guitarist Steven Mackey will offer insights on writing music for voice.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Friday, June 9, 2017 6:15 PM Pre-concert Conversation 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 11, 2017 12:30 PM Pre-concert Conversation 2 PM Concert
Ying Fang, soprano Henry Kramer, piano Steven Mackey, speaker St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Selected songs including “Trockne Blumen” and “Die Forelle” “Trockne Blumen” for flute and piano, Introduction and Variations Piano Quintet in A Major, “Trout”
Program II: Cello Quintet & Unfinished Works Because Schubert’s life was cut tragically short by illness, a body of his work was left unfinished, and many completed pieces were never heard by the composer—or anyone—during his life. These concerts combine the unfinished with the unheard. The Morgan’s Carolyn Vega, Assistant Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, and Ilona van Tuinen, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints, join OSL’s James Roe, President and Executive Director, in a pre-concert conversation on the theme of unfinished artistic works.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Friday, June 16, 2017 6:15 PM Pre-concert Discussion 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 18, 2017 12:45 PM Pre-concert Discussion 2 PM Concert
St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Fragments and movements from: String Trio in B-flat Major Quartettsatz in D Minor String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Program III: Octet with Readings by Adam Gopnik Here, the music of Schubert’s Octet is paired in dialogue with one of New York’s most distinctive literary voices and a great fan of the composer, Adam Gopnik. Between movements of the Octet, Gopnik will read the original narrative about the intersection of music and life, which was commissioned by Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Conversation with the author following each performance will explore the process of creating this unique work.
The Morgan Library & Museum Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Friday, June 23, 2017 7:30 PM Concert Brooklyn Museum Sunday, June 25, 2017 2 PM Concert
Adam Gopnik, speaker St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Octet in F Major Essays and Readings
Tickets and Information: The Morgan Library & Museum’s three-concert subscriptions is priced at $140, (members and past OSL subscribers receive a $30 discount), single tickets are $50 (members receive a $10 discount). The Brooklyn Museum’s three-concert Subscriptions is priced at $90 (members and past OSL subscribers receive a $10 discount), single tickets are $40 (members receive a $10 discount). Tickets may be purchased by calling 212.594.6100 or visiting OSLmusic.org. Free admission for ages 19 and under.
Orchestra of St. Luke’s and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble Now in its 43rd year, Orchestra of St. Luke’s grew out of a versatile chamber ensemble that began performing concerts at New York’s Church of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village in 1974. Today, OSL performs approximately 80 concerts each year, including its Carnegie Hall Orchestra Series, Chamber Music Series at The Morgan Library & Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Caramoor Summer Season. A champion of new music, OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works, and given more than 175 world, U.S., and New York City premieres in its 43-year history, including the New York premiere of John Adams’s Nixon in China and the world premieres of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem, Steve Reich’s Duet, and William Bolcom’s The Hawthorne Tree. The Orchestra has appeared on more than 100 recordings, including four Grammy Award winners and seven releases on its own label. OSL owns and operates The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, which provides rehearsal, recording, and performance space for more than 30,000 musicians annually, hosts free concerts and events for more than 10,000 New York City students and families, and provides after-school instrumental instruction for the 125 members of the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s. For more information, visit OSLmusic.org.
Media Contacts Pascal Nadon Communications pascal@pascalnadon.com (646) 234-7088
Orchestra of St. Luke’s Stephen Litner, Director of External Affairs slitner@OSLmusic.org (212) 594-6100 x103
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