Spend 'An Evening With Barbara Cook' At The Philharmonic 5/30, 6/2

Broadway legend Barbara Cook will return to the New York Philharmonic for two evenings - Saturday, May 30, and Tuesday, June 2, 2009, both at 8:00 p.m. - with the Philharmonic conducted by her acclaimed music director, Lee Musiker. Ms. Cook's appearances follow the success of her three sold-out 80th-birthday concerts with the Philharmonic in the 2007-08 season.

Ms. Cook plans to bring to the Avery Fisher Hall stage some of the songs that she is currently performing in her show, Here's to Life, at Feinstein's at the Regency, including Ray Charles's "Hallelujah, I Love Him So"; Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin"; and Bob Thiele and George David Weiss's "What a Wonderful World." Other selections will include Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring" from the film, State Fair; and Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music.
 
Barbara Cook's most recent New York appearances, in addition to her current  performances at Feinstein's, include her sixth solo concert at Carnegie Hall and her historic solo concert debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, where she became the first female solo pop singer to be presented in concert by The Met.

Ms. Cook won a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her concert, Barbara Cook's Broadway; and she was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her previous concert, Mostly Sondheim. Her many Broadway credits include the creation of three classic roles in the American musical theater: Cunegonde in Bernstein's Candide, Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson's The Music Man (Tony Award), and Amalia in Bock and Harnick's She Loves Me (Drama Desk Award).

In 1975 Ms. Cook made her Carnegie Hall debut, which was preserved as the "live" recording, Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall. She subsequently embarked on a second career as a concert and recording artist, performing in most of the country's major concert halls and cabarets. In 1987 she won a Drama Desk Award for her Broadway show, A Concert for the Theatre.

Ms. Cook's many London appearances include her gala 1997 birthday concert with the Royal Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall; performances with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican; engagements at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre, and Sadler's Wells; her Olivier Award-nominated appearances at the Albery Theatre and Lyric Theatres with Mostly Sondheim; two engagements of Barbara Cook's Broadway; and most recently, an appearance with the English National Ballet in an all-Gershwin evening at the Royal Albert Hall.

Barbara Cook made her Broadway debut in 1951 as the ingénue lead in the musical, Flahooley. She subsequently played Ado Annie in the City Center revival of Oklahoma!, which was followed by a national tour of that hit show. In 1954 her performance as Carrie Pipperidge in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel led to the role of Hilda Miller in the original production of Plain and Fancy. Ms. Cook went on to create the role of Cunegonde in the original production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. This was followed by her creating two classic roles in the American musical theater - Marian the Librarian in the premiere production of The Music Man, a performance which earned her the Tony Award, and Amalia in She Loves Me. In addition to starring roles in The Gay Life and The Grass Harp, Ms. Cook played Anna in the City Center revival of The King and I, and appeared in a second production of Carousel at City Center, this time playing the role of Julie Jordan. She went on to play Magnolia in the New York State Theater's production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Show Boat. She originated the role of Patsy in Jules Feiffer's Little Murders, and in 1972 she again returned to the dramatic stage in the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center's production of Gorky's Enemies.

Her recordings include As of Today (Columbia) and The Disney Album (MCA), and 14 titles on the DRG label, including Close As Pages in a Book; Barbara Cook: Live From London; Oscar Winners: The Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein; All I Ask Of You; The Champion Season: A Salute to Gower Champion; Mostly Sondheim; Barbara Cook's Broadway; the Grammy nominated Count Your Blessings; Tribute; Barbara Cook at the Met; No One Is Alone, and her most recent release, Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder.

Barbara Cook made her New York Philharmonic debut in February 1961 in an all- Bernstein program, and returned in September 1985 playing Sally in the concert presentation of Sondheim's Follies. Last season she performed her 80th birthday celebration on November 19 and 20, 2007, with a reprise on January 8, 2008.

Lee Musiker - pianist, conductor, music director, arranger, and orchestrator - brings a wealth of experience to the podium through his association with premiere artists in jazz, classical, Broadway, and pop genres. A Steinway artist, he has performed with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, New York Pops, Boston Pops, Hollywood Bowl, and the London Symphony Orchestra. As a solo pianist with the Lee Musiker Trio, he has performed in the United States and Europe. He has been a guest conductor with numerous symphony orchestras, including those of Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Denver, Honolulu, and Houston. He has also conducted the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon as well as the
Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Lincoln Center Jazz orchestras.

A native New Yorker and fourth generation musician, Mr. Musiker received degrees  from the Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music, and had further studies at The Juilliard School. After a two-year tour as pianist with the Buddy Rich Band, he returned to New York and began playing in the orchestra pits of many hit Broadway shows.

For the past 25 years Lee Musiker has enjoyed a rich and diverse musical life collaborating with artists including vocalists Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Barbara Cook, Maureen McGovern, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Joel Grey, Rita Moreno, Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Kathleen Battle, Denyce Graves, Nathan Gunn, Sylvia McNair, Julia Migenes, Ann Hampton Calloway, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, k.d lang, Michael Buble, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Norah Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, and Jewel (for which he received a Platinum album), and instrumentalists Buddy Rich, Doc Severinson, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, John Pizzarelli, Bob Brookmeyer, Bob Mintzer, and Joshua Bell.

As an arranger and orchestrator, Mr. Musiker has written for symphonic pops, recordings, movies, and television (for which he received an Emmy Award). As an educator, he has been on the faculties of The Mannes College of Music, New School, and New York University (as part of the Distinguished Piano Faculty Master Class series). Since 2001 he has been touring with Tony Bennett; and he was the music director and pianist for the multiple Grammy and Emmy Award-winning album and television special Tony Bennett: Duets - An American Classic. He made his New York Philharmonic debut with Barbara Cook in November 2007.

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