ChamberMusicNY Announces Launch of its 2016-17 Season

ChamberMusicNY, a non-profit presenter of live chamber music, is pleased to announce their 2016-17 season, consisting of eclectic and extraordinary artists, New York premieres, and thrilling, experimental performances.

The fourth season begins with Opening Night at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Dorothy and Louis B. Cullman Center on Saturday October 22, 2016, with flautist Catherine Gregory and harpist Mélanie Genin performing their unique homage to one of the greatest American novels, Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

"Toward the Sea" begins as soon as the audience enters, immediately immersed in an interactive pre-show. This leads seamlessly to the continuous performance, which intertwines passages from the novel, images, ambient sounds, and of course, musical works selected from the nineteenth and twentieth century. The anchor piece, Toward the Sea, meditates on the themes of the sea, voyage and the rumination of the soul.

The full program includes:

Pearls Of The Sea, for bass flute and harp (2005) Eve de Castro Robinson

Taheke for flute and harp, (2003) Gareth Farr

The Song Of The Lark, for flute and harp, (1989) Charles Rochester Young

Après un rêve, (1878) Gabriel Fauré

Toward The Sea III for alto flute and harp (1989) Toru Takemitsu

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, ChamberMusicNY and American Modern Ensemble return to Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center for "Voice Of America," a program of select arias from the sexy opera Three Way by composer Robert Paterson and librettist David Cote; plus more vocal music by Robert Beaser, David Conte, Dan Welcher, Keith Fitch and Robert Paterson.

This concert also features the New York Premiere of In Real Life, by Robert Paterson, featuring soprano Marnie Breckenridge, who previously amazed the audience in last season's AME concert

ChamberMusicNY closes the season on Saturday, April 28, 2017, with a return to Bruno Walter Auditorium and a lively, raucous performance bythe exciting flute and piano ensemble RighteousGIRLS, who engage audiences with their charged music and effects for a night of fun.

As RighteousGIRLS, New York-based flutist Gina Izzo and pianist Erika Dohi "rattle speakers and expectations with stop-time razzle, vocal (flute-talk) and electronic (phaser) effects" (NYC Jazz Record) while continually expanding their creative reach by bringing 21st-century music to new audiences and commissioning works that root themselves in classical idioms and drawing from other genres.

Established new-music ensembles, world premiere commissions, and New York's emerging classical performers are all part of the excitement of a ChamberMusicNY concert. From the organization's Britten Centenary marathon in 2013 to this season's six concert series, ChamberMusicNY presents small ensembles in New York's premier halls... free.

ChamberMusicNY distributes free tickets to audiences that may be unfamiliar with live chamber music as well as those who cannot afford to attend often prohibitively expensive NYC-area concerts. This programming is made possible with the help of community programs including Goddard Riverside Community Center, USO-Metropolitan NY, Third Street Music School Settlement, Greenwich House, the YM-YWHA of Washington Heights/Inwood, Fountain House, JCC Manhattan and others.

More information is available at http://chambermusicny.org.