Rite of Summer Music Festival Presents CONTEMPORANEOUS

Rite of Summer Music Festival's seventh stellar season comes to a thrilling close with Contemporaneous in two free shows at 1pm & 3pm on Saturday, August 12th. The program, titled The Two Halves, features works by Ian Gottlieb, Emma O'Halloran, and Finnegan Shanahan. Taking place at Nolan Park on Governors Island, Rite of Summer presents free outdoor concerts through August curated by Co-Artistic Directors Pam Goldberg and Blair McMillen. In a locale The New York Times has called a "Playground for the Arts," the aim of the Festival is simple: to present the highest quality live performances, and to bring free contemporary classical music to as many people as possible in a relaxed, fun, outdoor setting.

Rite of Summer shows will be presented twice the same day, at 1pm and 3pm, for each respective date. Audiences should feel free to walk by, stop and listen, lay down a picnic blanket and relax, eat lunch, mingle, and take in these engaging live performances.

Governors Island is a short 5-minute ferry ride from South Ferry, in lower Manhattan and a 3-minute ride from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Concerts are free; ferries are $2 after 12pm (free from 10am-12pm on weekends). For a full ferry schedule, please visit www.govisland.com.

For more information, visit www.riteofsummer.com.

Program:

The Two Halves

Emma O'Halloran: Vertical Fields

Ian Gottlieb: Transfigure

Finnegan Shanahan: The Two Halves

Saturday, August 12 - Contemporaneous - The Two Halves (Rain date: August 13)

Contemporaneous

Contemporaneous is an ensemble of 21 musicians whose mission is to bring to life the music of now. Recognized for "ferocious, focused performance" (The New York Times) and for its "passionate drive...setting an extremely high bar for other ensembles to live up to" (I Care If You Listen), Contemporaneous performs and promotes the most exciting work of living composers through innovative concerts, commissions, recordings, and educational programs.

Founded at Bard College in 2010, Contemporaneous is based in NYC and active throughout the United States. Contemporaneous has performed over 100 concerts at venues including Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, (le) poisson rouge, Merkin Concert Hall, Baryshnikov Arts Center, St. Ann's Warehouse, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. The ensemble has worked with artists as diverse as David Byrne, Courtney Love, Martin Creed, Donnacha Dennehy, and Dawn Upshaw.

Contemporaneous has presented the world premiere of more than 75 works, many of them large-scale pieces by emerging composers. Through its commissions and readiness to play challenging music, the ensemble encourages artists to take risks and defy constraints. Contemporaneous also leads participatory programs for public school students, designed to instill a passion for new music and to convey the power of meaningful expression through music. www.contemporaneous.org

Photo credit: Bruce Kung