Judith Clurman's Composer Speaks Series to Feature Sheldon Harnick and More, 12/10

Judith Clurman conducts The Composer Speaks: Reason To Be Thankful at the DiMenna Space for Classical Music, 450. 37th St (between 9th and 10th Avenues), New York City, at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. This event is being performed under the auspices of The Composer Speaks series, which is sponsored by Clurman's Essential Voices USA. The Composer Speaks workshops involve a presentation of musical selections followed by a discussion between the composers, librettists, conductor Judith Clurman, and audience members about musical choices and compositional techniques.

The performance on December 10 features an innovative and diverse selection of holiday music. EVUSA will premiere Judith Clurman's choral adaptation of Roberto Sierra's Gloria from Missa Latina, give the first public performance of Reason to be Thankful by Larry Hochman (composer) and Sheldon Harnick (librettist), and also perform Songs of Freedom: A Celebration of Chanukah, a thrilling new arrangement of Chanukah music by Clurman, Hochman, and Brian Stokes Mitchell, along with baritone soloist Steven Moore. During the concert, the audience will learn the Thanksgiving song The Cycle of Grace by John Glover (composer) and Kelley Rourke (librettist). The evening will conclude with an audience sing-a-long of traditional holiday carols! Refreshments will be served.

Tickets are available at the door or by visiting essentialvoicesusa.com, then clicking "Tickets".. Admission is $50.00 per ticket ($25.00 tax deductible); seating is limited. RAFFLE: To be held after the event.

ARTISTS:

ESSENTIAL VOICES USA

Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA (EVUSA), one of New York's preeminent choral ensembles, brings together a roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers. With this unique choral model, created by Clurman, the size of the ensemble is constantly changing, dictated by the specific musical needs of each project. The ensemble is completely at home in New York's iconic performance venues. It performs regularly on the Carnegie Hall subscriptions series with The New York Pops and at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. EVUSA participated in the spirited Leonard Bernstein Celebration at Symphony Space. EVUSA also produces its own classical choral, musical theater, and operatic readings, workshops, and recordings. The ensemble's wide-ranging and adaptable musicality is evident from the variety of its activities. EVUSA was in residence with National Public Radio the month of February 2011. That same year the ensemble launched The Composer Speaks, a series of concerts in workshop format moderated by Judith and designed to encourage dialogue with composers. Past events have included the music of established and up-and-coming composers and librettists such as Linsey Abrams, Larry Hochman, Bruce Ruben, Paul Schoenfield, Shulamit Ran, and Joshua Schmidt. The group performed on the critically acclaimed CD Celebrating the American Spirit (Sono Luminus) featuring Kelli O'Hara and Ron Raines. The repertoire ranged from Milton Babbitt to Irving Berlin. The disc includes the exciting cycle, "Sing Out, Mr. President," a collection of sixteen short pieces based on the words of sixteen American presidents. EVUSA recorded the song "The Music in My Mind" for Marvin Hamlisch's children's book, Marvin Makes Music, and was honored to be invited to participate in Hamlisch's stirring memorial at The Juilliard School. In 2011 and 2012 EVUSA rocked 'the rock' on NBC's national broadcasts of the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting. A highlight of its 2012-2013 season was EVUSA's participation in the Presidential Inaugural activities, including a sing-along of the "Sing Out, Mr. President" song cycle at the "Church of the Presidents" in Washington, D.C. The ensemble's CD was featured on NPR on Inauguration Day 2013. In 2012, EVUSA premiered the SATB arrangement of Stephen Schwartz's important and deeply moving work, "Testimony," at Carnegie Hall, under Judith's direction. In 2013-2014 the ensemble's versatility will be on display once again. Performances include Carnegie Hall concerts, exciting Composer Speaks programs, and a performance and recording of Mozart's Raunchy Canons. In addition, a new recording is on the way-the Clurman-Hochman-Mitchell arrangement of "Songs of Freedom: A Celebration of Chanukah" and "Set Me as a Seal" by Nico Muhly.

Judith Clurman

Emmy and Grammy-nominated conductor, vocal educator, and choral specialist Judith Clurman has conducted and collaborated with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Boston Symphony, New York City Ballet, Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center's Great Performers series, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the American Songbook Series, TodiMusicFest, and the New York Pops (Carnegie Hall). She served as Julliard's Director of Choral Activities, Co-Director for Harvard's Leonard Bernstein: Boston to Broadway Festival, faculty member/vocal specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts/Columbia University Institute of Classical Music, and as Visiting Artist at Cambridge University and Curtis Institute of Music, the Zimriya (Israel), and the Janacek Academy (Czech Republic). She created the Lincoln Center Tree Lighting, serving as musical director/conductor for nine years, and has commissioned and premiered over 50 works by America's most revered composers. As Associate Music Director of Sesame Street (Season 39), her work with The Muppets earned her a 2009 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition. Judith served as founding conductor of New York Concert Singers and Project Youth Chorus and music director of Prism Concerts and the 92nd Street Y's Music of the Spirit. The recording of Clurman's Son Sonora Voices for Tania Leon's ballet Inura, was nominated for a 2013 Grammy Award (Contemporary Classical Composition). Judith currently conducts Essential Voices USA (EVUSAand collaborates with the Omaha Symphony as chorus master and guest conductor. She conducted The Music in My Mind for Marvin Hamlisch's children's book. Her critically acclaimed CD, Celebrating the American Spirit, (EVUSA, Kelli O'Hara, Ron Raines), was featured on National Public Radio on Inauguration Day, 2013. Judith's publications/arrangements are published by G. Schirmer, Schott, Subito, and Boosey & Hawkes. She's recorded for New World, Sono Luminus, and Delos. She is currently a member of ASCAP, ASCAP's Special Classification Committee, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.