Brooklyn Phil Announces BRIGHTON BEACH SERIES

The Brooklyn Phil, local Russian artists, and legendary Soviet animation studio Soyuzmultfilm team up to bring 70 years of great Russian animation back to the big screen and onto the concert stage for the first time. With great scores by Shostakovich and Vyacheslav Artyomov, New York-based Russian and Ukranian actors and singers lend their voice to much-loved Soviet-era cartoon characters, including soprano Lyudmila Fesenko, educated at the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music and seen on the concert stages of Carnegie and Avery-Fisher Halls; mezzo-soprano Yelena Shmulenson, whose film credits include Robert DeNiro's The Good Shepherd and the Coen brothers' Oscar-nominated A Serious Man; baritone Alexander Gounko, who currently sings at the Metropolitan Opera; and tenor Vladimir Dobak. All will be joined by foley artist Ian Colletti in bringing the cartoons to life on stage.

The 2008 Russian animated film Only Love by Lev Polyakov, which boasts a score by composer Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin, is also included in the program. The film has garnered critical acclaim at festivals throughout the world, winning awards for both its animation and original score.

This first orchestral performance of the Brooklyn Phil's comeback season will also feature the opening movement of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. As a salute to its roots and the Brooklyn Phil's debut concert in 1857, in which Beethoven's third symphony-the Eroica- was performed, one movement will be presented in each of the three Brooklyn neighborhoods featured this season, and in a context that speaks to the local community. In Brighton Beach, the first movement has been newly paired with a 1992 film by Akop Kirakosyan, former director of the Soviet film company Soyuzmultfilm, which created many of the cartoons in the November 3 performance. The second Eroica movement will be performed at the Brooklyn Phil's Downtown Brooklyn Series in March 2012, and the final movement will be fodder for a "Beethoven Remix" project showcased at the Bed-Stuy Series in June 2012.

Tickets are available through the Millennium Theatre Box Office by calling 718/310-0646
or for Russian speaking patrons at www.RUconcert.com.