Composer Debra Kaye Featured At The Nacusa Spring Serenade

Acclaimed American composer Debra Kaye's work Dialogue With the Ghost, featuring cellist Arthur Cook, will be presented by the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA) on its Spring Serenade concert, Monday, April 16 at 8:00 p.m. at Christ and St. Stephen's Church 120 West 69th Street New York, NY (Admission is free).

Dialogue With the Ghost, a dialogue of opposites, explores a range of lyric and percussive possibilities. Originally written for viola da gamba, and later adapted for cello, the six and a half minute work was commissioned by Martha McGaughey of Mannes College, and celebrated its world premiere in 2004.

Kaye has been hailed as "a unique voice in American music" for her "transcendent, witty, colorful and profound" works blending deep classical roots with a wide range of influences including jazz, world music, folk, experimental improvisation, world events and sounds of daily life. With a catalogue of over 50 works including chamber and orchestral music, art songs, choral and theatrical compositions, her work has been honored with multiple ASCAP Plus Awards for her "creative contributions to American music." Her debut CD And So It Begins, produced by Grammy winning Judith Sherman, was recognized as "an album that will surely stand the test of time," and was included on Ted Gioia's list of top 100 CDs.

Kaye's 2017-18 season features a number of new commissions including a string quartet commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Howland Chamber Music Circle (Beacon, NY), Fantasy for flute and piano, and a commission from Composers Concordance for an electro-acoustic work. Last season's highlights included the premieres of five new works, Mouth of the Sky and The Dance the Turtle Dreamed from Kaye's String Quartet No. 1, Encountering Lorca for string orchestra, and two related works based on the myth of Ikarus, Ikarus - Duo for Binya for violin and viola, commissioned by the Community Music Center of Portland, and Ikarus Among the Stars commissioned by the Portland Youth Philharmonic.

Acclaimed cellist Arthur Cook has appeared as a chamber musician and soloist in numerous summer festivals. He has performed with his duo partner, pianist Deborah Gilwood in recitals at Princeton and Rutgers Universities, and Haverford College, among others. Cook serves on the faculty of Seton Hall University and Smith College.

The concert will also include vocal and instrumental music by living American composers, Allen Brings, Max Lifchitz, Timothy Miller, Sheli Nan and William Vollinger. Other performers include bass-barritone Lawrence Indik, flutist Christopher Morrison, violist Anna Elashvili, cellist Caleb van der Swaagh and pianists Mariya Broytman, Max Lifchitz, Sheli Nan and Stephanie Watt.

The NACUSA is one of the oldest organizations devoted to the promotion and performance of American concert hall music with many of America's most distinguished composers among its members. This performance marks their 85th anniversary concert.

For more information, visit www.debrakayecomposer.com.

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