NYC's 'New Voices' Comes to London at the Purcell Room

"What happens when several composers each try their hand at the same song?   What do you get when you combine an amazing theatre composer with a great twentieth-century poet?   What happens if you ask a pop composer to write for a string quartet?"

Find out the answers on Sunday, 12 October, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., when Artistic Director Joel Fram brings his acclaimed New York New Voices series to London's Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre.  An astonishing line-up of cutting-edge musical theatre composers include Jason Robert Brown, Sam Davis, Joel Fram, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, Andrew Lippa, Paul Loesel, Steve Marzullo, Marc Smollin, Georgia Stitt, and Joseph Thalken.

The London premiere of the New Voices songbook features the definitive stamp of such West End leading performers as Damian Humbley (Last Five Years), Eliza Lumley (Mary Poppins), Claire Moore (Miss Saigon), Dianne Pilkington (Wicked), Malinda Parris (Parade), Liam Tamne (Wicked), Oliver Tompsett (Wicked) and Matt White (Ragtime).

Tickets, priced at £25, may be purchased at http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/music/productions/new-voices-42117

The New Voices Collective was formed in New York City in 2001 to showcase up-and-coming theatre composers.  Soon NVC challenged established songwriters to join in, encouraging them to step outside of their normal habitat and explore different styles with new collaborators.  A recipient of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, NVC presented 24 concerts over four seasons at New York City's Symphony Space, premiering over two hundred new songs and chamber pieces by such artists as Jason Robert Brown, Andrew Lippa, Georgia Stitt, John Kander, Tom Kitt, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, Michael John LaChiusa, Jenny Giering, Steve Marzullo, Paul Loesel, and Stephen Schwartz.  In addition to the New Voices series, NVC presented The Cello Project, which gave a forum to Broadway composers for the composition of chamber music, as well as Alternative Torch, a showcase for aspiring singer-songwriters exploring the alternative/pop music field.

The October premiere of New Voices at the Purcell Room is the first in a series of three concerts scheduled for the 2008 - 2009 Southbank season.  The concert will also feature Mark Etherington on piano, Julian Leaper and Alice Butcher on violin, Christopher Pitsillides on viola, Helen Neilson on cello, Steve Pierce on clarinet, and Andy Philip on guitar.  The concert is produced by Alastair Lindsey-Renton and JAC Entertaiment, and will be directed by NVC co-founder Annette Jolles.  New Voices is presented with the generous assistance of Hilary A. Williams.