The first evening of Gowanus Jazz Fest begins on Saturday, May 8th, with Sam Newsome on solo sax performing pieces from his new solo CD, Blue Soliloquy (8pm) and Frank Carlberg‘s Big Enigma premiering a new song cycle with settings to poetry by Ken Mikolowski (9:30pm).
GOWANUS JAZZ FEST is a new three-day event. The first edition of the festival will be presented on three consecutive Saturdays this coming May. All the concerts, on May 8th, 15th and 22nd, will take place at Douglass Street Music Collective, which is located at 295 Douglass Street, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. There are two groups each night with sets at 8PM and 9:30PM. Suggested donation is $15/night.
Chicago’s Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS) is pleased to present the 21st Annual All Chinese Music Concert on Sunday May 16th, 2010 at 3:00pm, at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall located at 78 E. Washington St. This concert presents traditional and contemporary Chinese music and themes in a creative blend of instrumentation and compositional styles, all performed by Chicago’s top professional classical musicians.
The All Chinese Music Concert will feature internationally & locally acclaimed ensemble and solo musicians from Chicago, including special guests from Fulcrum Point New Music Project Stephen Burns, trumpet; Jeff Handley, percussionist; and Brandon Prodjasek, percussionist. Other musicians performing include Gerald Carey, flute; Katherine Jui Chang, piano; David Cunliffe, cello; Desiree Ruhstrat, violin; and the CFAS Chorus (Rita Lopienski, guest conductor, Wen Ming Leung, piano).
Program highlights this year include “Chanted Rituals” by Vivian Fung, “Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in” by Chen Yi, and the world premiere of “Away” by Yang Qing – first prize winner of the 2009 Julia Liu Beijing Composition Competition, sponsored by the Chinese Fine Arts Society. The 21st Annual ACMC Concert also features the premiere of new repertoire pieces for the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius Scholarship Competitions, held annually in October.
Fulcrum Point New Music Project is dedicated to being Chicago’s leader in diverse new music that boldly straddles the barriers between new art music and traditional music from around the world. Fulcrum Point’s primary mission is to ensure a future for new art music by actively commissioning innovative new works, presenting vibrant multi-media performances, and generating novel cultural collaborations and educational programs.
For over twenty-five years, the Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS) has nurtured the Chicago public’s interest in Chinese cultural heritage through the form of music and arts, to create a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures. Beginning as a small group of parents eager to create opportunities for their children to learn more about Chinese culture, the group has evolved into a highly visible, multi-level non-profit organization on the center stage of arts and culture. From Chinese art exhibitions to musical events encouraging the learning of Chinese music (Music Festival in Honor of Confucius) to International Music Composition Competitions to large scale presentations in Millennium Park and Navy Pier, the Chinese Fine Arts Society continues to make a positive cultural contribution to the city of Chicago.
Founded in 1984, CFAS provides programs and activities that promote the understanding of Chinese culture through music and other fine arts in Chicago’s culturally diversified society. By presenting traditional and contemporary Chinese music compositions by Chinese composers and performances of Chinese music on western instruments, CFAS hopes to reach a greater number of people and heighten their awareness of the richness of Chinese culture. For more information on the Chinese Fine Arts Society, please visit www.chinesefinearts.org or write to [email protected]
Trombonist Alan Ferber‘s new CD “Alan Ferber Nonet with Strings: Chamber Songs” is being released on Sunnyside Records next week. He is having a CD launch party/show on Thursday May 13th at 9pm and 10:30pm at the Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street (West Village). The show features the tunes from the new album for his nonet plus string octet.
Catch soprano Michelle Areyzaga in performances of excerpts from new operas With blood, With Ink and Revolution of Forms as part of New York City Opera’s VOX 2010 on April 30-May 1. Performances take place at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University, 556 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South).
New York City Opera’s VOX is an exciting opera lab of new works that offers American composers and librettists the opportunity to hear their works with a full orchestra and excellent artists. Every year, VOX presents up to twelve new, previously un-produced works from both emerging and established composers in orchestra readings that are free and open to the public. For the last half century, New York City Opera has been a leader in the development of American opera. City Opera has an unmatched repertory of American works including those of over 50 American composers and shaped an American aesthetic for opera through the world premieres of more than 25 American operas. To date, the festival has presented excerpts from 70 new operas with more than 30 going on to full productions — four at City Opera and the remainder at other opera companies, including Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Michigan Opera Theater and the Sante Fe Opera.
Music For Farms will perform a concert entitled “An Agricultural Rite of Spring” at the Threefold Auditorium at 260 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY on Friday, May 7, 2010 at 8pm. Tickets may be purchased at the door and are $20 ($15 for students, $10 for children). For more information, call 845-362-0207 or email [email protected].
John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich, who practice music and farming side by side (McDowell at Camp Hill Farm in Pomona, NY; and Vukovich in Quebec, Canada), have formed an international initiative, Music for Farms, which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. Julia MacLaine joins them for this special concert. The program, described below, includes the music of Bach and several original works in contemporary and classical idioms, such as their own composition based on the Parcifal legend. The trio’s creative arrangements reflect a weaving of eastern and western traditions, incorporating African drum rhythms. This concert will be a benefit for the Rockland Farm Alliance (RFA). The mission of the RFA is to facilitate local sustainable agriculture in Rockland County, New York.
The program for “An Agricultural Rite of Spring” will be drawn from the following selections:
Parcifal and Zazamanc, by John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich
F major, by John McDowell
Pachamama’s Catharsis, by Pedro Malpica
Swara Kakali (transcription of a work by Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar)
The first evening of Gowanus Jazz Fest begins on Saturday, May 8th, with Sam Newsome on solo sax performing pieces from his new solo CD, Blue Soliloquy (8pm) and Frank Carlberg‘s Big Enigma premiering a new song cycle with settings to poetry by Ken Mikolowski (9:30pm).
Trombonist 
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