The Sheen Center Sets Inaugural 2016 Fall Classical Series

The NoHo/East Village based Sheen Center for Thought and Culture has announced their inaugural 2016 Fall Classical series made up of three unique concerts that run the gamut of classical chamber music.

Curated by Marc Kaplan of SubCulture, the opening concert on November 22 brings together Argentinian pianist Pablo Ziegler and pianist/host of NPR's From The Top Christopher O'Riley to perform a program from their new Steinway & Sons album Tango Nuevo. The second concert, December 13, honors the 150th birthday of Erik Satie with a multimedia performance featuring pianists Anthony de Mare, Simone Dinnerstein, Conrad Tao, and Adam Tendler along with Tony Award-nominated actor Lou Liberatore.

A final January 12 concert, also curated by Kaplan, rounds out the season with a performance by the Parker Quartet and clarinetist Charles Neidich, playing chamber music by Mendelssohn and Brahms.

For more information about the Fall season, visit sheencenter.org/events/classical-music-series.

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FALL CONCERT LISTINGS:

PABLO ZIEGLER AND CHRISTOPHER O'RILEY - TANGO NUEVO

November 22, 2016 at 7:30PM
Pablo Ziegler, piano
Christopher O'Riley, piano
Ticket Information

Tango Nuevo denotes a genre of Argentine music, founded and shepherded by Astor Piazzolla and Pablo Ziegler, in which traditional tango is blended with outside influences. Comprising compositions by both Piazzolla and Ziegler, this program (curated by SubCulture's Marc Kaplan) is a love letter to the traditions and culture of Argentina.

A longtime collaborator and mentee of the great Piazzolla, there is no one better suited than Ziegler to bring these works to life. Christopher O'Riley, a classical pianist who is unafraid to venture outside traditional genre boundaries, is the ideal partner for Ziegler in this endeavor. The two-piano works on Tango Nuevo take listeners on an imaginary journey through Argentina, celebrating the locales and participants of local tango culture. Some of these works also highlight the additional musical influences that Piazzolla and Ziegler folded into the Tango Nuevo style, from jazz melodies and harmonic structures, to classical forms and composers like J.S. Bach. Of course, the influence of the great master Piazzolla himself is keenly felt in Ziegler's compositions and arrangements. Ziegler and O'Riley's collaborative efforts are an homage to a vibrant musical culture; their own twists on the genre underscore how the Tango Nuevo style is still very much alive today.

The Tango Nuevo album is Pablo Ziegler & Christopher O'Riley's debut on the Steinway & Sons label, and is available now internationally.

ANTHONY DE MARE - THE VELVET GENTLEMAN: ERIC SATIE AT 150

December 13, 2016 at 7:30PM
Anthony de Mare, piano
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Conrad Tao, piano
Adam Tendler, piano
Lou Liberatore, actor
Erin Ortman, director
Ticket Information

Pianist Anthony de Mare creates an evening in honor of Eric Satie's 150th birthday year, following the model of his acclaimed Sheen Center program The Terrace Where the Moon Holds Court, where he brought twelve pianists together to play the 24 Debussy Preludes in a theatrical setting. This time, de Mare joins with three of classical music's finest pianists - Simone Dinnerstein, Conrad Tao and Adam Tendler - in a program combining Satie's music with works by composers associated with him during his lifetime and those influenced by him in subsequent generations, all interweaved within an evening monologue based on many of Satie's memoirs and letters, performed by Tony Award-nominated actor Lou Liberatore.

This multi-media presentation of Satie's life and work offers an intimate look at the startling breadth of his visionary output, with insights into the eccentric life of this ultimate "torchbearer for the avant-garde."

PARKER QUARTET

January 12, 2017 at 7:30PM
Daniel Chong, violin
Ying Xue, violin
Jessice Bodner, viola
Kee-Hyun Kim, cello
with special guest Charles Neidich, clarinet
Ticket Information

Program:
Mendelssohn: Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Inspiring performances, luminous sound, and exceptional musicianship are the hallmarks of the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet. Renowned for its dynamic interpretations and polished, expansive colors, the group has rapidly distinguished itself as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation, and has appeared at the most important venues worldwide since its founding in 2002. This concert, curated by SubCulture's Marc Kaplan, features Mendelssohn's 1st string quartet as well as Brahms' clarinet quintet along with guest clarinetist Charles Neidich.

Founded and currently based in Boston, the Parker Quartet's numerous honors include winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at France's Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, and Chamber Music America's prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award.

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Named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s, The Sheen Center is a project of the Archdiocese of New York and showcases works that affirm the highest values of the human spirit through the performing and visual arts, lectures and exhibits. The state-of-the-art complex has a 270-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition Livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with thirty-two onstage inputs; an 80-seat black box theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery.

Marc Kaplan is a music entrepreneur, educator, conductor and composer. A lifelong lover of the arts, in 2013 he co-founded SubCulture, a music and performing arts venue in downtown Manhattan that has garnered praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Magazine and more. Marc has always believed that the arts have the ability to change lives, and he's continuously used that passion - as both an entrepreneur and an educator - to support the emergence and growth of arts institutions.

After graduating from the George Washington University, Kaplan became a music educator, garnering numerous awards and accolades for ensembles under his direction. Additionally, he has been an artistic director and guest conductor at music festivals and with such established organizations as the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival, The Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Kaplan lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife, Betsy, and their daughter, Zoe.