NYC Arts Organizations to Honor Benjamin Britten, 10/19-20

Three NYC arts organizations specializing in song and chamber music are teaming up in October to present a weekend-long celebration of the vocal works of Benjamin Britten, who would have turned 100 years old this year. Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF), The Casement Fund Song Series, and Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) have assembled a massive roster of exceptional vocalists and pianists, including renowned collaborative pianist Malcolm Martineau, who will present a total of five programs over a two-day span.

Three concerts on October 19th will be presented at, and in conjunction with, the newly renovated Brooklyn Historical Society, whose landmark building is located in Brooklyn Heights, just blocks from where Benjamin Britten lived in the early 1940s. Two additional programs on October 20th will be presented at the Engelman Recital Hall at Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. Britten in Song: A Centennial Celebration has been co- curated by Jesse Blumberg of 5BMF, Martha Guth of The Casement Fund, Michael Brofman of BASS, and baritone Michael Kelly of featured ensemble SongFusion.

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) was founded in 2007 by baritone Jesse Blumberg. Under his leadership, along with Executive Director Donna Breitzer, 5BMF seeks to bring musical performances of the highest caliber to all parts of New York City. In a day when more and more artists and music fans are living in the so-called 'outer boroughs,' it is 5BMF's goal to equally serve audiences in every part of the city by presenting diverse, intimate, and affordable programs throughout the year. Over its first six seasons, 5BMF presented over 30 unique and varied programs in six complete cycles around NYC.

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.

Hailed by the New York Times as "ambitious" and "a company well worth watching," Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) will enter its fourth season of first-rate music making in the Fall of 2013. Dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music, BASS presents programs of epic scope yet intimate at the same time. Past highlights have included performances of the complete songs of Charles Ives, Henri Duparc, a festival of works from Franz Schubert's last year and an ongoing project to present the complete lieder of Hugo Wolf. Committed to keeping art song relevant in our time BASS has collaborated closely with important living composers such as Tom Cipullo, Libby Larsen, Lowell Liebermann, and Yehudi Wyner, and has commissioned works from Brooklyn-based composers Marie Incontrera and Michael Rose.

ADMISSION
All tickets and concert packages are now available at www.5BMF.org/buy-tickets/
$25 General Admission
$15 Students
$15 Brooklyn Historical Society and Green-Wood Members (Oct 19)

October 19th Day Pass:
$60 for 3 Concerts

October 20th Day Pass:
$40 for 2 Concerts

BRITTEN LOVERS WEEKEND PASS:
$90 for 5 Concerts

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

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