Quintet of the Americas Presents IN PURSUIT OF FREEDOM Concert

Quintet of the Americas will present In Pursuit of Freedom, a concert on Sunday, June 21 - 2:00 PM at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 204 W. 134th Street, New York NY.

Quintet of the Americas, an internationally renowned woodwind quintet, will present two works by Carl MaultsBy - The Journey, for winds, African and Latin percussion, and trap drum, in three movements: Procession from the Motherland Through the Middle Passage to the Americas, Spiritual, and Shout; and Kum-Ba-Ya, Marcus, for wind quintet and narrator, which provides a glimpse of Marcus Garvey, the proponent of Pan-Africanism and Black Nationalism. The Quintet will be joined by three guest percussionists and Broadway actor Charles Wallace who will narrate and read related poetry.

The program will also include Afro-Cuban Concerto by Valerie Coleman of Imani Winds, the Maya Angelou movement from Barbara Harbach's Freeing the Caged Bird and William Grant Still's Rising Tide, theme song for the 1939 World's Fair.

Mr. Wallace will recite poetry by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

The June 21 event is free and open to the public. For more info or directions, call 718-230-5189 or visit http://www.quintet.org/concerts.html. This concert is ADA accessible. For MTA transportation information, visit http://tripplanner.mta.info/_start.aspx.

Charles Wallace can be seen in the upcoming Broadway production of Amazing Grace. He performed the role of Headmaster Morrow in Manhattan Theatre Club's and The Alliance Theatre's production of Choir Boy. At the Grand Theatre at Les Nuits de Fourvière, in Lyon, France, Charles appeared as Papa/Emanueli in Robert Wilson's chamber opera Zinnias: The Life of Clementine Hunter. His Broadway credits include Miss Saigon (John), Smokey Joe's Café, and Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway has included Dina Was (Boss/Chase) and George Wolfe's Harlem Song (Apollo Theatre).

Founded in Bogota, Colombia in 1976, Quintet of the Americas has specialized in bringing music from the Western hemisphere to audiences in the United States since its arrival in New York in 1979. The group has enjoyed an international career that has taken them to concert halls throughout the Americas and Eastern Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and the Library of Congress. Performing on this concert are Karla Moe, flute, Matt Sullivan, oboe, Ben Baron, clarinet, Barbara Oldham, horn and Gina Cuffari, bassoon. Visit their website at http://www.quintet.org and become their friend at http://www.facebook.com/groups/325982319921/. Quintet photos are available at http://quintet.org/press.html.

This program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Additional funding comes from The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, New Music USA's Cary New Music Performance Fund, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.