Women of Note - March 10 @ 7 PM

The North/South Chamber Orchestra will continue its 45th consecutive season on Monday, March 10, 2025, performing four recent works by women composers.

The free-admission concert will start at 7 PM and end around 8:20 PM. It will be held at the intimate and acoustically superior auditorium of Christ & St Stephen's Church (120 West 69th St - between Broadway and Columbus) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. First come, first served. No registration or tickets are required.

Wearing a mask while in the auditorium is optional but strongly encouraged.

The program will introduce the New York City public to compositions by Dinah Bianchi, Sheli Nan, Eurydice V. Osterman , and Barbara Rettagliati. The ensemble will be under the direction of Max Lifchitz, its founder and director.

North/South Consonance's concert activities are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support from the BMI Foundation, the Music Performance Trust Fund, the Zethus Fund, and numerous generous individual donors is gratefully acknowledged.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS and THEIR MUSIC

Dinah Bianchi creates vibrantly exciting music, music that is sublime and beautiful, and with the communicative power that drives the creative spirit of all artists. Fanfare Magazine exclaimed that her music, “…cries out to be heard.” Her style melds the past with the present, introducing music that exists as an extension of modern tradition and honors the forward momentum of the craft through the melding of time, space, and sound. Isolation seeks to express the intense emotions that individuals may experience during unwanted solitude. The work is a direct response to the forced separation of orchestral performers due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. To highlight the array of feelings, the music portrays a wide variety of moods. At times, the music is uncomfortable, stark, and jarring, while at other times, it may seem beautiful and comforting.

Born and raised in New York City, Sheli Nan now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where she is active as composer, writer, teacher and harpsichordist. Her works have been recognized with awards from The American Prize and the Zellerbach Foundation and have received performances throughout the US and Europe. The press has described her music as "soulful and playful, a breath of fresh air."  While writing Flash Forward Nan hoped to "recoup the optimism that has always guided us and ask that we allow music and gratitude to offer us a way toward grace and forgiveness. We have all stumbled both as a nation and as a people. Let us find the strength to persevere."

Eurydice V. Osterman is a Fulbright scholar whose works have been performed around the world. An accomplished organist and choral conductor, she is the first African American to receive a doctorate in composition from The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She has served as Chair of the music departments at Oakwood University in Alabama and the Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica. Her work Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. is a heartfelt show of admiration and gratitude towards the great civil rights leader.

Barbara Rettagliati trained at the Piacenza Conservatory in her native Italy. She taught at the Bellini and Cherubini Conservatories before relocating to Switzerland to devote her energies to composing full time. Her works have received many prizes and have been performed by important soloists and ensembles throughout Europe, Korea, China, and Argentina. Aghi (Evergreen Pine Needles) was written to memorialize a close friend while searching to overcome the pain involved in losing someone dear.


MEET THE PERFORMERS

A dynamic figure in America’s musical life, Max Lifchitz was born in México City and has lived in New York since 1966. Active as composer, pianist, and conductor, Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1976 International Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Twentieth Century Music held in Holland. The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "a stunning, ultra-sensitive pianist" while The New York Times praised Mr. Lifchitz for his "clean, measured and sensitive performances.” The American Record Guide remarked that  “Mr. Lifchitz is as good on the podium as he is behind the piano.” Lifchitz's most recent recording, 

Is Spring Right? is available at

   https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_koYAL-mWi69lKivRXXZjQivjCpyCOqaCM&si=EKpPrr2Km1PFDpzJ

The North/South Chamber Orchestra performs a yearly series of concerts at various New York City auditoriums. Its most recent recording featuring music by Robert Martin -- the New York City-based composer -- may be accessed by visiting 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n_f1uazDIKTNzz0xlUubDe4YuVK-kSgck&si=aiaNbsaXq3CuZSSM