David Bernard And Park Avenue Chamber Symphony Kick Off 2018-2019 Season With NY Premiere Of “JFK: A Profile”

For the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's 2018-2019 season opener, music director David Bernard has chosen a program titled "Heroes and Legends" featuring the New York Premiere of Steven Rosenhaus' JFK: A Profile with narration and multimedia elements developed and curated by WQXR Radio Personality Elliot Forrest. The program also includes the debut of Eli Goldberger, a 15-year-old student of Larry Guy at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division in Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1, and concludes with Dvo?ák's brilliant Symphony No. 6.

"Throughout history, quotes from presidential speeches have continued to inspire us," says Maestro David Bernard. "In many important ways, John F Kennedy's speeches stand out as perhaps the most evocative and influential. His enlightening words help us to see the world, and our place in it, with a new and broader perspective."

Steven Rosenhaus' JFK: A Profile sets selected quotations from JFK's speeches to music. "To be sure, the music is profound and beautiful," says Bernard. "But what makes this work so special is how Steven has fused JFK's words with music that is both uplifting and supportive. The words are, as they should be, the star of the show and the music underscores the significance of these words, helping us to fully experience the meaning expressed through them. A performance of this work is profoundly moving for both the performers and for the audience."

"John Fitzgerald Kennedy has always been the President to whom I compare every other politician," says composer Steven Rosenhaus. "I wrote JFK: A Profile in 2016 to not only help celebrate President Kennedy's 100th birthday, but also to bring something substantial to his legacy."

For the New York Premiere, WQXR Radio Personality Elliott Forrest will serve as both narrator and multimedia consultant, working with Maestro Bernard to incorporate audio and video clips of JFK delivering the words directly. "In effect," says Bernard, "this performance will have JFK himself narrate many of the lines. This is our way of bringing our audience INSIDE his words."

"It is exciting for me to both narrate and create visuals for the New York premiere of JFK: A Profile," says Elliott Forrest. "To hear his voice and see his face on the big screen along with stirring music, is a reminder of not only what a great man he was but also a great leader."

This event will be held on Saturday, November 10th, 2018 at CMT Auditorium at 120 West 14th Street in New York City. Tickets are available online here: http://bit.ly/PACSJFKTickets

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