Sara Jean Ford Joins Lineup of DCINY's DEFYING GRAVITY, Set for this Weekend

Broadway star Sara Jean Ford, currently starring as Christine in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera, joins the already stellar line up for this Sunday afternoon's concert, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz and Eric Whitacre at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, is the first concert collaboration between groundbreaking choral composer and Grammy winner Eric Whitacre and renowned Academy Award and Grammy-winning composer Stephen Schwartz, whose musical Wicked continues to run on Broadway after more than 10 years. Performing alongside Sara Jean Ford, who will be the soloist for Eric Whitacre's "Fly to Paradise," from Virtual Choir IV, is star performer Ashley Brown, the original Mary Poppins on Broadway. Eric Whitacre conducts the Distinguished Concerts Singers International- comprised of choirs from across North America as well as Italy and China- as well as Stephen Schwartz himself for select works. Sara Jean Ford was last heard with DCINY as soprano soloist for Messiah ... Refreshed! and in Whitacre's Paradise Lost on tour with DCINY at Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Auditorium Theatre and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

DCINY continues its popular annual collaboration with Eric Whitacre, known to millions worldwide for his innovative compositions for orchestra, film, and his own Eric Whitacre Singers, along with his astounding Virtual Choir, whose recent 4th incarnation featured 8,400 videos of individual singers performing his work, "Fly to Paradise." The March 30 concert marks the first time that Fly to Paradise is performed in the SATB version under Eric's baton. Additional Whitacre favorites on the concert include Animal Crackers, Volumes I and II, which was supported by the DCINY premiere project, Sleep and Lux Aurumque.

Stephen Schwartz is the subject of the newly released book Defying Gravity (Applause) which charts his path from writing the score for Godspell at age 23 through the making of the megahit musical Wicked. He is the recipient of two Academy Awards and a Grammy for the film scores for the Disney animated movies, Pocahontas and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, in collaboration with composer Alan Menken. Works on the program include "Ain't It Good" from his musical Children of Eden; and "For Good" and "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.