Greenwich House Music School to Host UNCHARTED Concert Series, 3/12-4/30

Following the success of its regularly sold-out 2014 performance season, Greenwich House Music School, located at 46 Barrow Street in the heart of the West Village, is proud to announce Uncharted, a concert series featuring high-profile local artists debuting first-time performances of new work or new collaborations. The Uncharted concert season will cover a broad selection of genres, from jazz to R&B, folk to pop, performance art to global rock. Performances for Uncharted will take place every Thursday from March 12 to April 30. Concerts are staged at Greenwich House Music School's Renee Weiler Concert Hall, an intimate 100-capacity room featuring excellent acoustics, a neighborhood atmosphere and a pair of Steinway grand pianos.

"This series is designed to offer a safe place for artists to take risks," says series curator Jennie Wasserman, formerly of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub and Carnegie Hall; currently the Associate Artistic Producer at San Francisco's SFJAZZ. "In the process of programming the Uncharted series, I have asked the participating performers to take a chance on a project that they feel passionate about. In some cases, performers have chosen to play music in the style of an artist that has inspired them. Some of these concerts present unlikely duets with artists collaborating for the first time. Others will see the premiere of new albums. Every evening we are inviting the audience into the ground floor of the artistic process, which is sure to be a revelatory experience."

Ms. Wasserman has assembled an impressive lineup of artists, including Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings lead guitarist Binky Griptite exploring the music of the Delta Blues on April 2, acclaimed solo artists Marc Ribot and Emeline Michel premiering a piece featuring the music of the great Haitian composer and performer Frantz Casseus on March 26, rising jazz trumpeter Bria Skonberg on April 16 and multi-hyphenate performance artist-actress-composer-musician Cynthia Hopkins' first look at her new in-progress piece The Alcoholic Movie Musical on April 23.

"This year's Uncharted series is dedicated to the legacy of German Diez, the recently passed chairman of Greenwich House Music School's piano department," says Rachel Black, Director of Greenwich House Music School. "For over sixty years, Mr. Diez was a stellar instructor at Greenwich House. His talent, dedication and excellence served as a beacon for his many students, including Erica Nickrenz of Eroica Trio and recent Academy Award winning composer (for Frozen) Bobby Lopez. With this series of first-time performances, we celebrate Mr. Diez and all the music teachers and artists who seek to find new talent and new skills in previously uncharted worlds."

Greenwich House Music School's roots in New York City extend to the beginning of the 20th century, a time when the neighborhood and the needs of its populace were growing at an exponential pace. Greenwich House opened its doors on Thanksgiving Day in 1902 and has been dedicated to the social and artistic well-being of the downtown area ever since. The organization maintains senior centers, a pottery studio, the first addiction counseling treatment center licensed in New York State, a nursery school, afterschool and summer arts camps and a mental health center for youths and seniors. The Music School at 46 Barrow Street, originally founded in 1905, has provided countless New Yorkers with their first experiences as performers and creators and offers over $50,000 in arts education scholarships every year.

Performances for all dates start at 8:00 pm. Concerts are general admission and open to all ages. Complimentary wine and beer will be served prior to and during all concerts. Tickets to performances are available in person on-site the night of the concert or in advance online by visiting www.greenwichhouse.org/music_school/uncharted