Five Boroughs Music Festival and The Casement Fund Song Series Present A BANNER BICENTENNIAL, 9/5-6

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) is excited to open its 2014-2015 season with two presentations of "A BANNER BICENTENNIAL: 200 Years of American Song." In its second collaboration with The Casement Fund Song Series, 5BMF will present this brand new program of American Song in two historic NYC venues: Flushing Town Hall in Queens, and Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan.

The program marks the 200th birthday of The Star Spangled Banner, and traces the journey of American song through the two centuries since the anthem's beginnings. Pianist SPENCER MYER will join soprano CAITLIN LYNCH, mezzo-soprano LEAH WOOL, tenor MICHAEL SLATTERY, and baritone SIDNEY OUTLAW in selections ranging from Ives to Bernstein, Foster to Hoiby, and Gershwin to Rorem. In addition, American tenor and song guru PAUL SPERRY will make a special guest appearance to speak about the program and the evolution of American song.

Friday, September 5, 2014 8:00 PM
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Blvd. Flushing, NY 11354
$25 General Admission
$20 Queens Council Members and Queens Residents
?$10 Students

Saturday, September 6, 2014 8:00 PM
Federal Hall
26 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
$45 General Admission, limited availability and advance purchase ONLY.

Admission includes pre-concert reception with bottomless American bubbly and a post-concert toast with the artists.

Tickets for this program are available now via www.5bmf.org.

This program's performers include:

SPENCER MYER, pianist - www.spencermyer.com
CAITLIN LYNCH, soprano - www.caitlinlynchsoprano.com
LEAH WOOL, mezzo-soprano - www.leahwool.com
MICHAEL SLATTERY, tenor - www.michaelslattery.com
SIDNEY OUTLAW, baritone - www.sidneyoutlaw.com

The Casement Fund Song Series is a recital series hosted by the Casement Fund, a trust set up to encourage creative writing and poetry, and by extension the written word as it relates to Art Song. Its mission is to provide a home for poetry and classical music through passionate performances of Art Song in New York City. Our concerts highlight world class artists featured in intimate and interesting spaces breaking the boundaries between music, art and creative writing. The Song Series is curated by soprano Martha Guth.

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to presenting traditional and contemporary chamber music in all five boroughs of New York City. With the dual aims of bringing affordable, high-caliber chamber music concerts to all parts of NYC and of cultivating new audiences for the genre, 5BMF engages top composers and performers from the New York City region and beyond and partners with many local cultural institutions. 5BMF's programming is rooted in familiar classical music traditions, but is inclusive of a broad range of styles; art song recitals, early music, jazz, new music and other non-classical forms are all represented.

Founded and led since 2007 by Artistic Director Jesse Blumberg, 5BMF has presented over 35 traditional and contemporary chamber music programs in seven complete cycles around NYC. Described as "imaginative" by the New York Times and "vital" by WQXR's Operavore blog, 5BMF's commitment to musical outreach and diverse programming has attracted positive attention from the NYC arts community from its earliest days.

5BMF's artist roster is comprised of diverse, talented emerging artists and distinguished musicians alike. 5BMF's venues are just as eclectic, and have included historic NYC landmarks such as Steinway Hall, the University Church at Fordham University, Flushing Town Hall, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, to name merely a few. Outreach initiatives include public masterclasses; artist talk-backs; and the donation of programming to charitable causes. In 2011, 5BMF presented the World Premiere of its ambitious Five Borough Songbook, a collection of 20 newly commissioned vocal chamber works from 20 composers. Over the course of the 2011-2012 season, 5BMF premiered the Songbook in each of NYC's five boroughs, and released a 2-CD album of the collection with GPR Records.

Further information can be found at www.5BMF.org or via email: info@5BMF.org