Concerts for City Greens Kicks Off Season, 5/30; Michael John LaChiusa, Ann Hampton Callaway and More in Lineup

By: May. 22, 2012
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Concerts for City Greens, the free outdoor concert series that brings the sounds of music to the heart of Midtown, kicks off its fifth season on Wednesday May 30 at 6:30pm at Tudor City Greens. (Rain date: Thursday May 31 at 6:30pm.)  "…in the spring, becomes The Rose," a salute to Golden Globe winner Amanda McBroom, features these special guests -- the seven-time MAC-winning singer Natalie Douglas; the MAC and Bistro Award winning singer Kevin Dozier, and the singer/songwriter and Broadway music director John DiPinto.

The Windham Hill recording artist, Sean Harkness (2012 MAC Recording of the Year), and the 4-time MAC & 2-time Bistro Award-winning big band innovator Terese Genecco return as series regulars.  The concert's featured instrumentalists are the music directors Bill Zeffiro, David Caldwell and Jeff Cubeta on piano, and Tom Hubbard on bass.  All are series regulars. The Broadway and cabaret veteran Raissa Katona Bennett is the evening's host and producer.
 
Making special guest appearances to premiere two of the eight semifinalist songs competing in the Concerts for City Greens song contest are the Broadway star Sarah Rice, premiering the song "In Gail's Garden" by Judy Kellersberger, and the internationally acclaimed Kenneth Gartman, who premieres "It's Just My Park" by Ben Bonnema and AriAnna Rose lone. The semifinalist tunes, all of which celebrate the different roles green spaces play in the lives of New Yorkers, will be performed throughout the season -- two per concert -- by prominent guest artists from the worlds of Broadway, jazz, cabaret and classical music. The contest's finalists, chosen after the summer, will be showcased at a special gala concert at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency, in the fall or winter of 2012. (TBA)
 
Conceived and developed by Raissa Katona Bennett, Concerts for City Greens (formerly The Concerts for Tudor City Greens) is dedicated to exposing culturally and socio-economically diverse audiences of all ages to free, professional live music in city settings, while linking with other community groups and organizations to promote effective dedication to the "greening" of cities.  Bennett won the 2010 Bistro and 2011 MAC Award for hosting "The Concerts at Tudor City Greens."
 
The concerts take place at the South Park of Tudor City Greens Park (between 41st & 42nd Streets, and 1st & 2nd Avenues) on the following Wednesdays at 6:30pm: May 30, June 20, August 1, September 12 and October 3.  Four of this summer's concerts will be dedicated to the music of four of its song contest judges: Amanda McBroom (May 30), Neil Sedaka (August 1), Ann Hampton Callaway (September 12) and Michael John LaChiusa (October 3).  (The other judges are the quadruple-platinum songwriter and Today Show regular David Friedman, and the two-time Emmy Award-winning MTV executive Matthew Parillo).  For more information visit www.raissakatonabennett.com

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