On September 17th and 18th, The Ikarus Chamber Players will present a magnificent concert at the Duo Cultural Arts center in downtown New York.

The program is called ‘L’heure bleue,’ after the period in Paris at the turn of the last century.

L’heure bleue

September 17th – 18th, 2010
Duo Multicultural Arts Center, NYC

The blue hour refers to that special time, just before dawn, when a few solitary birds begin to sing and when the heavily cloaked night sky first hints at its inevitable retreat, as well as to a time of innocence in Paris, just prior to World War One, when Maurice Ravel was composing music for piano trio and Claude Debussy was writing his cello sonata. This program celebrates French music, food, and wine, and that time of night – in France or elsewhere – when the electric energy of great friendships finally gives way to the peaceful morning light.

Messiaen ~ Theme And Variations
Debussy ~ Sonate pour violoncelle et piano
Blachly ~ La fête de l’été (commissioned by Salchow & Sons)
—
Ravel ~ Piano Trio

Owen Dalby (vln), Julia MacLaine (vc), Ilya Kazantsev (pno)

Location: 62 East 4th Street, NYC
My major compositional effort from last year, La fête de l’été, will be premiered in fashionable fashion, in the extremely good company of Messiaen, Debussy and Ravel, and will be paired with a crisp Chenin Blanc, the wine that inspired the piece as I wrote it last Summer.

It is a substantial work, some 25 minutes in length, in four movements: la bulle, la gitane, le code a changé, and la nuit. It was inspired by my stay last summer in the beautiful town of le Puy-Notre-Dame in the Saumur region of France.

This is a self-produced and rather ambitious project, and we are endeavording to fill the theater for both nights, so please come and bring many friends. Tickets will be available at the Duo Multicultural Arts Center (212-598-4320) and through SmartTix.

More details to follow!

The concert will benefit work at the All Souls Music Camp in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where I have volunteered my time in recent years.

Tickets are a suggested donation of $20; no one turned away.

Please come and bring many friends!

The concert will take place at Trinity Church on Wall Street and Broadway

I am calling this a dream project. It started with the desire to re-create in some form the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and so with Owen Dalby I have assembled a ‘dream-team’ of young professionals in New York. But I realized that the concert could benefit the long-standing work that Trinity Church supports in the Lower Ninth Ward, where I worked alongside several of my Trinity Choir colleagues.  In that program, the kids are thirsty for real musical learning, as well as for support and guidance; and this symphony, with its profound view of a child’s view of heaven, ties in perfectly with the kids I met in New Orleans last week. They have lived a lot of life in their few years, and there is nothing diminutive or simplistic about the spiritual and musical life of a young person.

The Sheep Island Ensemble presents Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the New York City Summer Mahler Project on July 14th at 6pm at Trinity Church, Wall Street.

Inspired by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Claudio Abbado, conductor James Blachly has assembled an all-star cast of young professionals in New York City to perform this concert on a volunteer basis. Most members of the ensemble are teaching artists, and many are former and current members of the Academy of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Weill Music Institute (ACJW), as well as seasoned free-lance veterans.

The concert will be presented free of charge (with a $20 suggested donation) with the hope that the audience consist of people who would not otherwise attend a symphony concert, with all proceeds to benefit the All Souls Music Camp in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where Trinity Church has an ongoing relationship.

Summertime is quiet, and there is room in our busy schedules for a project outside of the normal parameters of New York freelance work. While many busy freelancers leave town to play in festivals, others who have already passed that stage in their career are in the city and are happy to have the chance to play great music with beloved colleagues.

The early starting time reflects the desires of a summer-time crowd-to come right after work, enjoy an exquisite early evening of music, and retire to a glass of wine in Lower Manhattan as the sun sets.

It was a fantastic performance and the entire concert is worth watching, with works by Judd Greenstein, Avery Griffin, Caleb Burhans, Lisa Bielawa, Charles Wuorinen,  John Zorn, George Perle,  Johannes Somary and Calvin Hampton.

The piece was premiered in January, 2009, and has been fully revised for this concert. It features three soloists-soprano, alto, tenor, each declaiming challenging prophetic texts, centered around Matthew 27, which quotes Jesus as saying, “Do not think that I came on earth to bring peace. I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” The work is an exploration of that text and a reflection on the prophetic tradition through I Corinthians, and is dedicated to the Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street.

A strong intersection!

Nacole Palmer, one of my great colleagues, will be presenting two of the Moby Dick songs in recital with Bénédicte Jourdois at the Tenri Cultural Institute. These two songs-Delight and Amours in the Deep make a healthy mini-cycle, and are an amuse-bouche for the hour-long project which is underway and which will be premiered in the Fall of 2010.

Nacole Palmer and Benedicte Jourdois
in concert

Tenri Cultural Institute
43A West 13th Street
New York, NY  10011
$25 Suggested Donation

Performances are December 20th, 2pm

December 25th, 2pm and 8pm;

December 27th, 2pm

Watch online

Dante Alighieri

The superb players will be: Jennifer Curtis, violin; Margaret Dyer, viola; Julia MacLaine, cello; Megan Levin, harp.