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Press Releases
Art Songs by Latino Composers in NYC - February 16 @ 8 PM
Vocalists Sandra Moon, Mary Thorne and Anna Tonna will join forces
with pianist Max Lifchitz in an intimate celebration of the Art Song
as practiced by Latino Composers during the last 100 years.
The soiree -- part of the Composers Now Festival -- will highlight
intriguing and stimulating song cycles penned by composers originally
from Cuba and Mexico who have resided and flourished artistically in
New York City. Vocal works by Carlos Chavez and Max Lifchitz (from
Mexico) as well as Jorge Martin and Julian Orbon (from Cuba) will be
featured.
The free-admission event will be held at the National Opera Center's
Marc A. Scorca Hall located at 330 Seventh Ave (FL 7) in New York
City. The auditorium is ADA accessible. The concert will start at 8
PM and end around 9:30 PM. No tickets required.
The three vocalists and Mr. Lifchitz are available for media events
and interviews and may be contacted through the North/South office.
The event is possible in part with public funds granted by the NYS
Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs as
well as gifts from many generous donors.
MEET THE PERFORMERS
Soprano Sandra Moon has sung on stages throughout the world. At the
Metropolitan Opera she sang several roles under the baton of James
Levine and next to RenÉe Fleming. With over 100 roles in her
repertoire Sandra has sung on the stages of Vienna, Munich, Chicago,
Carnegie Hall, ZÜrich, among others. In addition to her vocal
repertoire, she has performed the role of Maria Callas in Terrence
McNally's Tony Award winning play, Master Class.
Soprano Mary Thorne has been praised by the press as an "engaging
soloist, bright and agile" and for her "knowing sexiness, effortless
coloratura runs and solid acting skills." Frequently heard in Mozart
roles, she has appeared with the Amore and Amato Opera companies,
Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, the Bronx Opera, Opera Company of
Brooklyn, and New York Metro Vocal Arts Ensemble. Last season's
highlights include joining New York City Opera in Aleko/Pagliacci at
Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater.
"A born star who effectively stole the show" is how the press
describes mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna. Her performances have been
depicted as "...full of charm and magnetism with her dark, compact
lyric mezzo-soprano ideally suited for the flamenco-like vocal
flourishes of Spanish music." Well known for her commitment to the
music of Spain and Latin America, Ms. Tonna was awarded a Fulbright
Scholarship to study and perform in Spain upon her graduation from
the Mannes College of Music.
Pianist Max Lifchitz has appeared on concert stages throughout
Europe, Latin America and the US. The San Francisco Chronicle
described him as "a stunning, ultra-sensitive pianist" while the New
York Times praised him for his "clean, measured and sensitive
performances." Lifchitz appears as collaborative artist and conductor
in over fifty compact disc albums, including nine widely praised solo
albums featuring piano music from the Americas.
ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC
Carlos Chavez (1899-1978) is one of Latin America's best-known
composers. A powerful figure in the cultural life of Mexico, his
innovative research into the musical traditions of pre-Columbian
cultures provided Mexican artists with a new sense of identity and
brought an unprecedented international visibility to Mexican music.
The program will feature the first US performance of his earliest
vocal compositions grouped under the title of Cinco Poemas (Five
Poems). Written in 1921, these songs were recently unearthed and
edited for publication by Max Lifchitz. Eminently romantic in spirit,
the songs are based on poems in French, German and Portuguese by
the19th century writers Victor Hugo, Heinrich Heine and Jose Asuncion
Silva.
Max Lifchitz started his musical education in his native Mexico City
before moving to New York to study with Luciano Berio at The
Juilliard School. His song cycle Forget Me Not was inspired by poetry
of the 19th century American writer Lillian E. Curtis. The recently
completed composition consists of four contrasting songs that deal
with descriptions of nature as well as feelings of loss, euphoria and
gaiety.
Jorge Martin (b. 1959 in Santiago de Cuba) has lived in the US since
1965. He studied at Yale and Columbia University and has received
fellowships from the Cintas and Bogliasco Foundations as well as an
award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His one-act
opera Tobermory won first prize in the National Opera Association's
Fifth Biennial Chamber Opera Competition while his full-length opera
Before Night Falls -- based on the 1992 autobiography of Cuban writer
Reinaldo Arenas -- was given its world premiere at the Fort Worth
Opera. Martin's A Cuban in Vermont is a collection of five affable
and witty songs inspired by the composer's longing for Cuba while
residing in Vermont.
Julian Orbon (1925-1991) was praised by Aaron Copland as "Cuba's most
gifted composer of the new generation." Born in Spain, Orbon's family
settled in Cuba in 1940 where he studied with Jose Ardevol, joining
him as a co-founder of a Cuban school of composers, Grupo de
Renovacion Musical. An invitation from Carlos Chavez to join the
faculty of Mexico's National Conservatory provided him with the
opportunity to leave Cuba in 1960. In 1964 OrbÓn moved to New York
City where he taught composition at Barnard College and the Hispanic
Institute of Columbia University. Orbon's Libro de Cantares (Book of
Ancient Songs) is an extended song cycle based on folk melodies from
the Asturias province of Spain. The work was written in 1987 and is
Orbon's very last composition.
For the complete Winter/Spring concert series schedule please visit
http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp
To stream, download and/or purchase the more than 60 compact discs
released by the
North/South Recordings label
please go to
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