Max Lifchitz and North/South Consonance Ensemble to Perform at New York Public Library at Lincoln Center

Max Lifchitz will mark 50 years as a New York City resident with a retrospective concert featuring recent and erstwhile vocal and instrumental works.

The event will be held on Saturday afternoon June 3 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center. It will start at 2:30 PM and end approximately at 4:00 PM. The auditorium is ADA accessible. Free admission (no tickets needed).

Lifchitz will not only appear as pianist but will also be joined by members of his North/South Consonance Ensemble including vocalist Celia Castro, violinist Claudia Schaer and cellist Marisol Espada.

Celia Castro will sing Rosa Divina (Heavenly Rose) a stirring song cycle inspired by the poetry of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican writer and pioneer feminist. Completed last year, this song cycle received its first hearing under the auspices of the recently held 2017 Contemporary Music Festival in Santiago Chile.

Violinist Claudia Schaer will perform Yellow Ribbons No. 51, a work written with great urgency as information about the tragedy that befell Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016 saturated the news media. In response to what is considered the deadliest mass shooting in US history, Pulse - the name of the night club where the misfortune unfolded - might be an appropriate subtitle for the work. Ms. Schaer premiered the piece at the Bar Harbor Music Festival last July.

Lifchitz will open the program performing his Cinco Preludios and Tema con Variaciones, two early piano works written in Mexico City over fifty years ago while as a young man he was pondering the possibility of pursuing a career in music.

Other works to be heard include Lifchitz's humorous songs Three Concerted Madrigals based on 16th century Italian poetry; Yellow Ribbons No. 46 for cello and piano performed by Marisol Espada; and Transformations Nos. 1 and 2 for solo cello and violin respectively.

Lifchitz began studying music in his native México City under the tutelage of Spanish composer Rodolfo Halffter. In 1966, he was awarded a scholarship to study with Luciano Berio at The Juilliard School. Lifchitz's compositional activities have been possible thanks to grants from among others, the ASCAP, Ford and Guggenheim Foundations; the New York State Council for the Arts Individual Artists Program; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Awarded first prize in the 1976 Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Contemporary Music held in Holland, Lifchitz has appeared as pianist on concert stages throughout Europe, Latin America and the US. A strong advocate of the music of our time, Lifchitz is in charge of North/South Consonance, Inc. the new music organization he founded in 1980. In addition to presenting a yearly concert series in New York City, the North/South Chamber Orchestra maintains an active recording schedule having released over 60 compact discs. Its activities are made possible with public funds from the NYS Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; grants from the BMI Foundation and the Music Performance Trust; as well as contributions from many generous individual donors.

For the complete North/South concert series schedule, visit www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp. To stream, download and/or purchase the more than 60 compact discs released by the North/South Recordings label, go to North/South Recordings.