Symphony Space Announces Krzystof Penderecki and More for 2013 - 2014 Music Season

Symphony Space, New York's home for innovative and diverse cultural programming on the Upper West Side, celebrates its 35th season of Music programs in 2013-14 with a stellar array of artists in imaginative, thought-provoking presentations. Curated by Artistic Director Laura Kaminsky, the offerings range from marathon celebrations to intimate recitals, encompassing a rich variety of musical styles. Highlights include a visit from Krzysztof Penderecki, October 25; the fifth THE MUSIC OF NOW MARATHON, with the dream-inspired theme of "REM: Rapid Ear Movement," February 1; and appearances by Dar Williams, Tom Paxton, Christine Lavin, and other icons of folk/acoustic music. Capping the season is SLEEPING AROUND, a multidisciplinary festival celebrating the culture, history, art, scene, and scandal of New York's most famous hotels, highlighted by WALL TO WALL SLEEPING AROUND on May 3.

In addition, two new series make their debut this season: Symphony Space & WQXR Present: ROYAL OPERA HOUSE CINEMA, presenting repertoire favorites in high definition; and THALIA MUSIC CLUB, a series of afternoon lecture-performances with first-rate musicians that illuminate standard classical forms such as Étude, Fantasy, Theme and Variations, Prelude and Fugue in repertoire spanning centuries.

Starting with its first event, WALL TO WALL BACH in 1978, Symphony Space has led the way in developing fresh approaches to the concert experience, while maintaining the highest artistic standards. Says Kaminsky,"Ever since our founding concert, we have been ardently commited to unusual music programming - not the standard fare - with annual WALL TO WALL events spanning the likes of Mozart, Stephen Sondheim, MiLes Davis, Schubert, John Cage, Jerome Kern and Charles Ives, for example, as well as marathons devoted to Soviet-era music, music from Latin America, the culture of Gertrude Stein's Paris, and Harlem from its Renaissance through today.

"Our 2013-2014 season promises another aural romp through a unique soundscape. There's something for everyone - everyone with a sense of adventure, that is. This is music for the openminded, curious, culture-loving New Yorker, and we are glad to welcome you here."

CONCERTS IN THE PETER JAY SHARP THEATRE:

The music season opens on Tuesday, October 7 with Kurt Weill ON BROADWAY, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of ONE TOUCH OF VENUS. Le Train Bleu chamber orchestra, led by Ransom Wilson, accompanies a cast that includes Melissa Errico, Victoria Clark, Brent Barrett, and Ron Raines alongside winners of the Lotte Lenya Competition. Hosted by Ted Chapin, the program includes excerpts from other incomparable Weill scores, including LADY IN THE DARK, STREET SCENE, LOVE LIFE and LOST IN THE STARS. Musical direction by Weill specialist James Holmes, stage direction by Richard Jay-Alexander.

Folk and acoustic music occupy a prominent place in the coming season, with a pair of special concerts in the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. October 19 brings an evening with singer/songwriter Dar Williams, who returns to Symphony Space with her unique brand of American folk that moves seamlessly between tender, funny, poignant, and (always) beautiful. The chamber folk trio The Rebecca West opens.

The New Year strums in on January 17 with WOODY'S CHILDREM, in which iconic folksingers Tom Paxton, Christine Lavin, Tom Chapin, and very special guests to be announced commemorate the 45th anniversary of the well-loved WFUV radio program WOODY'S CHILDREN, hosted by Robert Sherman.

From the Algonquin to the Elysée to the Chelsea, New York's hotels have long been incubators of culture and creativity. This season, Symphony Space celebrates the art that has emerged from these storied institutions in a multi-genre Spring Festival, SLEEPING AROUND. The festival opens on April 26 with an evening of music from iconic cabaret queen Barbara Cook, and is highlighted by Symphony Space's "annual gift to the city of New York," WALL TO WALL SLEEPING AROUND on May 3. Stay tuned for details.

FALL: IN THE SALON

Fall Music offerings center on the In the Salon series, in which conversations with world-class artists complement chamber music performances in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Chief among these is an evening with Krzysztof Penderecki (October 25).

October 18: The opening event in the series offers the complete songs for voice and guitar of Benjamin Britten, a gorgeous and profound body of work written for the composer's partner, Peter Pears and guitarist Julian Bream. In celebration of Britten's centenary, tenor Rufus Müller and guitarist David Leisner present a rare performance of the complete oeuvre. Rare among 20th-century composers, Britten's writing for the guitar is easily on a par with his celebrated mastery of vocal music.

October 25: Krzysztof Penderecki, "Poland's greatest living composer" (The Guardian) graces the Symphony Space stage for a live broadcast event hosted by WQXR-Q2's Helga Davis. Performances include the Penderecki Quartet in Quartet No. 3, Ensemble Pi in Sextette, musicians from the Yale School of Music, and more.

November 8: One of the most intriguing In the Salon events is titled NOVEMBER 21, 1963: THE DAY BEFORE. This multi-media event reimagines the day before the assassination of JFK, a day when the world as we knew it was irrevocably changed. Contributing artists include Nico Muhly, Phil Kline, Lera Auerbach, Craig Lucas, Bill Morrison, Eve Beglarian, and Fang Man.

November 22: Exploring the romantic notion of THE AMERICAN DREAM, this evening of performance and conversation with the Cassatt Quartet offers the iconic "American" quartet by Dvorak, as well as Peter Schickele's American Dream, and a new work commissioned by Symphony Space from the "appealing and inventive" (Washington Post) Jessie Montgomery, the Sphinx Organization's first composer-in-residence.

December 5: BERNARD RANDS: THE COMPLETE PIANO MUSIC. Rands is "a composer with a poet's sensibility and a painterly love of color and line" (Musical America). Robert Levin and Ursula Oppens bring this rich, complex, and lyrical body of work to Symphony Space in a Bridge Records CD release.

December 13: WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI: A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE. Featuring ACME, "one of New York's brightest new music indie-bands" (Time Out New York), and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky, recipient of the Lutoslawski Society's medal and an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award.

WINTER: THE MUSIC OF NOW MARATHON AND SERIES

Says Laura Kaminsky, "THE MUSIC OF NOW embodies Symphony Space's deep commitment to composers and performers who are redefining the sound of the 21st century." At each event in this wide-ranging festival (including the Marathon), the featured composers will be on hand to speak about their concepts, their inspirations, and their creative methods. The seven concerts in the series touch on on new music, art song, socially-engaged multimedia, Latin sounds, experimental Hip-hop, and more. All events take place in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

February 1: Now in its fifth year, THE MUSIC OF NOW MARATHON, "a massive gathering of adventurous musicmakers (Time Out New York), continues to be a destination for the newest sounds on the musical landscape. This season's installment is titled REM: RAPID EAR MOVEMENT; Kaminsky describes it as "a day of dreamscapes, sonically expressed." Watch this space for details on performers and repertoire for REM.

February 7: UNCOMMON WOMEN. Celebrating a host of birthdays for the women warriors of new music - Joan Tower (75), Tania León and Ursula Oppens (70), and the Cassatt Quartet (30th anniversary season). Oppens and the Cassatt play a new piano quintet by León, commissioned by Symphony Space, plus Tower's Piano Quintet and Beethoven's Op. 74, "The Harp."

February 13: THE CROSSROADS PROJECT. Responding to one of society's greatest challenges, this multi-media work on climate change weaves together a chorus of artistic and scientific voices. With the Fry Street Quartet, physicist Dr. Rob Davies, composer Laura Kaminsky, artist Rebecca Allan, and photographer Garth Lenz.

February 21: An evening with composer, singer-songwriter, and pianist Errollyn Wallen, who blurs the line between pop and contemporary art music. She will be joined by violinist Anton Miller and violist Rita Porfiris for the New York premiere of Five Postcards, and by the Hartt Quartet and writer David Grand for a new piece based on his new book, HOTEL TERMINUS. "A renaissance woman of contemporary British music" (The Observer).

February 27: Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto and his Trio come to the Thalia for MUSIC OF NOW, bringing energetic grooves and deep harmonies that are always inspired and informed by the colorful richness of Brazilian music. The Seattle Times calls Neto "a brilliant and intuitive keyboard player (and flutist) who explores jazz, classical, and Brazilian traditional music with equal zeal."

March 20: CHANGING NIGHT. Transformation is the theme, as Hip-hop poetry trio The Mighty Third Rail (a hit at the recent Wall to Wall Harlem Resonance) and the innovative PUBLIQuartet re-imagine Ligeti's Quartet No. 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes as a strings, verse, and beat-boxing mash-up of the Garden of Eden story.

March 27: 48 STRINGS: GUITAR MINIMALISM. The Dublin Guitar Quartet, Brasil Guitar Duo, and guitarists David Leisner and Benjamin Verdery harness the power of the strings to take on works by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, David Leisner (Symphony Space commission) and Ingram Marshall. Presented in collaboration with Guitar Plus.

Symphony Space & WQXR PRESENT: ROYAL OPERA HOUSE CINEMA

Symphony Space, in partnership with WQXR, New York City's sole 24/7 classical music station, and the Royal Opera House, is proud to offer productions of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in high-definition video. Beginning on September 22 with Verdi's Nabucco, these critically-praised productions have been handsomely documented, and will provide compelling viewing and listening. Each of these Sunday afternoon showings begins at 3 pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and will be introduced by Naomi Lewin, host of WQXR's opera show, OPERAVORE; other WQXR hosts; and luminaries from the opera world.

September 22 - Verdi, Nabucco
Plácido Domingo (Nabucco), Liudmyla Monastyrska (Abigaille), Marianna Pizzolato (Fenena); Andrea Caré (Ismaele), Vitalij Kowaljow (Zaccaria);
Nicola Luisotti, cond.; Daniele Abbado, dir.

October 13 - Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin
Krassimira Stoyanova (Tatyana), Simon Keenlyside (Onegin), Elena Maximova (Olga), Pavol Breslik (Lensky), Peter Rose (Prince Gremin), Diana Montague (Madame Larina); Robin Ticciati, cond.; Kasper Holten, dir.

November 3 - Rossini, La donna del lago
Joyce DiDonato (Elena), Juan Diego Flórez (King of Scotland), Daniela Barcellona (Malcolm), Simón Orfila (Duglas), Colin Lee (Rodrigo); Michele Mariotti, cond.; John Fulljames, dir.

November 24 - Verdi, Les Vêpres siciliennes new production
Marina Poplavskaya (Hélène), Erwin Schrott (Procida), Bryan Hymel (Henri), Michael Volle (Guy de Montfort), Jean Teitgen (Le Sire de Béthune); Antonio Pappano, cond.; Stefan Herheim, dir.

December 22 - Wagner, Parsifal new production
Simon O'Neill (Parsifal), René Pape (Gurnemanz), Gerald Finley (Amfortas), Willard White (Klingsor), Angela Denoke (Kundry); Antonio Pappano, cond.; Stephen Langridge, dir.

NEW SERIES: THALIA MUSIC CLUB

Thalia Music Club brings first-rate keyboard artists together with interested listeners for afternoon lecture/demonstrations, starting at 2 pm in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Each installment illuminates a different classical form, with examples that span centuries.

October 23: Fantasies with pianist Daniel Gortler
Works include Beethoven: 'Moonlight Sonata' (sonata quasi fantasia); Mozart Fantasy in C minor (K. 475); selections from Schumann Fantasiestücke Op. 12, Fantasie Op. 17 in C major

November 6: Theme and Variations with harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire
Selections from Bach Goldberg Variations

November 20: Preludes and Fugues with pianist Margaret Kampmeier
Works by Bach, Shostakovich, Mendelssohn, Reger, and Henry Martin

December 11: Etudes with pianist Jenny Lin
Études by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Stravinsky, Ligeti, and Jason Freeman

ABOUT Symphony Space

Symphony Space traces its beginnings to a free marathon concert, WALL TO WALL BACH, held in 1978 and organized by co-founders Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller. The music marathon then drew thousands of visitors and has since become one of the organization's signature events. Today Symphony Space presents more than 600 events each season, including music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings. Some of its best known programs include Selected Shorts, a reading of short stories by stars of stage and screen, and one of the most popular series on public radio; the Thalia Film Club, a trendy film club hosted by Marshall Fine featuring pre-release screenings and behind-the-scenes conversations with film stars; JUST KIDDING, one of the most talked about family entertainment series around town; and, more recently, THE MUSIC OF NOW, presenting an eclectic range of music in all styles and sensibilities, focusing on emerging artists and unusual work. UPTOWN SHOWDOWN has been called "New York's best comedy series" by New York Magazine. For more information, visit symphonyspace.org.

Symphony Space Artistic Director Laura Kaminsky is a composer whose works are "colorful and harmonically sharp-edged" (The New York Times) and whose "musical language is compounded of hymns, blues, and gestures not unlike those of Shostakovich" (inTune). She also holds the post of professor of music at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College/SUNY. Kaminsky has received commissions, fellowships, and awards from: the NEA, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Aaron Copland Fund, Chamber Music America, American Music Center, USArtists International, CEC ArtsLink International Partnerships, Virgil Thomson Foundation, and others. She has received five ASCAP-Chamber Music America Awards for Adventurous Programming. She is currently writing an oboe concerto for the Orchestra of St. Luke's and a chamber opera on a transgender theme for Sasha Cooke and Kelly Markgraf.

Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Box office hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 1 pm - 6 pm, open two hours prior to performances and events. Tickets can also be purchased through www.symphonyspace.org, or by calling 212/864-5400.