Quintet of the Americas Presents Music of Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin with Jackson Heights Orchestra on December 15 at PS 69 in Jackson Heights, Queens

Quintet of the Americas, Queens’ renowned woodwind quintet, will present For the Sparrows, music of Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin, in concert with the Jackson Heights Orchestra, conducted by Patricia Glunt, on Saturday, December 15 @ 4:00 PM at PS 69, 77-02 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY.  

The program will also include the orchestral works The Gordian Knot by Henry Purcell, Gabriel Faure’s Masques et Bergamasques Suite and Ilan Rechtman's America Suite Popular for solo quintet, strings, and percussion, commissioned by Quintet of the Americas for their Carnegie Hall debut in 1992.

This will be the culmination of a year-long project collaboration between Quintet of the Americas and composer Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin.  This multi-generational project has involved elementary school recorder players from PS. 69, the chorus from PS 149, The Jackson Heights Orchestra and seniors from the Catherine Sheridan Senior Center. The JHO is an adult community orchestra with a mission to promote local talent, explore and embrace the diversity of Queens. It operates under the banner of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group.

Ljova has written a four-movement work which has an overall theme of birds. He wrote the first movement based on interviews with the seniors. The next movement, based on the white-throated sparrow's call is for the recorder players and the quintet, another movement is for the quintet and the orchestra, and the last movement brings everyone together, first with the chorus and quintet and then joined by the orchestra and recorder players. The project received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant funded the composer's commission as well as workshops with all the groups, including people of all ages representing a very diverse neighborhood. 

This event is free and open to the public, however, a donation of $10/$5 seniors and students is suggested. For more information, call 718-230-5189 or visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1962171467413167/. The concert is ADA accessible. For MTA transportation information, visit http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx.

Composer Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin (born in Russia, and emigrated to New York in 1990) has written more than 120 compositions for classical, jazz, and folk ensembles, as well as scores to four feature and over a dozen short films, and music for contemporary dance. He leads his own ensemble Ljova and The Kontraband, and works as a freelance violist, violinist & musical arranger. Recent commissions include the City of London Sinfonia, The Louisville Orchestra, Brooklyn Rider, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, The Knights, as well arrangements for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, tenor Javier Camarena, conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Alondra de la Parra, the Mexican songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, Argentine composer/guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla, Kronos Quartet, and others.

Past works for Quintet of the Americas by Ljova include Lullaby and Memory based on interviews with seniors in Jackson Heights.  

Founded in Bogota, Colombia in 1976, the Quintet has specialized in bringing music from the Western hemisphere to audiences in the United States since its arrival in New York in 1979. The group has enjoyed an international career that has taken them to concert halls throughout the Americas and Eastern Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and the Library of Congress. Members of the Quintet are Karla Moe, flute, Matt Sullivan, oboe, Benjamin Baron, clarinet, Barbara Oldham, horn, and Sasha Enegren, bassoon. They are currently in residence in The Department of Music and Performing Arts in The Steinhardt School at New York University. Visit their website at http://www.quintet.org and become their friend at http://www.facebook.com/groups/325982319921/. Quintet photos are available at http://quintet.org/press.html.

This program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Additional funding comes from The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation and generous individuals. Special thanks to the Hon. Melinda Katz, Borough President of Queens, and the Queens Delegation to the New York City Council.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

####