Judy Kuhn to Perform at World Financial Center Today

Broadway star and Tribeca resident Judy Kuhn will perform songs from iconic 19th-century soprano Jenny Lind's fabled U.S. debut in a free concert celebrating two Lower Manhattan landmarks at the World Financial Center Winter Garden today.

The three-time Tony Award nominee, who originated the role of Cosette in Les Miserables, will headline a musical tribute by downtown's own Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra to the Statue of Liberty, which turned 125 this year, and Castle Clinton, the storied Battery Park landmark celebrating its bicentennial.

The concert will bring to life songs that endeared Lind – known as "The Swedish Nightingale"– to adoring American audiences. The show honors her historic 1850 Castle Clinton performance that was a highlight of the structure's thirty-year tenure as an opera house, part of two centuries of service to downtown New York that also included stints as a military fortification, entertainment palace, immigration center, and concert venue, among others.

The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra (KCO) is a professional chamber orchestra based in Lower Manhattan under the direction of Gary S. Fagin. KCO programs are inspired by Lower Manhattan, performed in the extraordinary spaces of Lower Manhattan, and created for the people of Lower Manhattan.

“There is no better way to pay tribute to two landmarks that exemplify Lower Manhattan's preeminent role in American history than partnering with the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra to commemorate Jenny Lind’s legendary concert at Castle Clinton,” said Debra Simon, artistic director for Arts Brookfield. “Enhanced by the voice of Judy Kuhn, one of Broadway's leading lights, this promises to be a beautiful celebration of our illustrious corner of the city.”

Elaborating on its Lower Manhattan theme, the concert will kick off with John Williams' Statue of Liberty tribute Liberty Fanfare. The lineup will also include treasures from such American masters as Stephen Foster, Charles Ives, and Aaron Copland; a rousing waltz by John Philip Sousa; and selections from the Leonard Bernstein musical On the Town. For a complete program, see below.

Since its inception in 1988, over 3.5 million people have attended more than 2,500 free performances and events at the World Financial Center, making Arts Brookfield the largest presenter of free, year-round performing and visual arts on the East Coast. The World Financial Center is the home of flagship annual events like the Bang on a Can Marathon, Canstruction, and Silent Films/Live Music curated by WNYC’s John Schaefer. For more information, visit www.worldfinancialcenter.com/arts-events