Lost Dog New Music Ensemble Marks The Finale Of The Leonard Bernstein Centennial

LOST DOG NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE marks the Finale of the Leonard Bernstein Centennial in New York City, with new orchestrations of Bernstein's Dybbuk and Fancy Free. Taking place at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music on Friday, June 14th at 8pm, the concert performance of these ballet scores will feature the world premiere of new orchestrations created by Garth Edwin Sunderland, Lost Dog's Artistic Director, and Vice President for Creative Projects for The Leonard Bernstein Office.

The concert also coincides with the Jerome Robbins Centennial: Robbins was the choreographer of both ballets, as well as Bernstein's life-long friend and collaborator.

Sunderland explains: "Much of my work with the Bernstein legacy has been on the later, lesser-known works, which reveal a composer who had blossomed into a mature master, fully in command of the vast possibilities that music offered to him, and able to synthesize them effortlessly through his own unique voice and enormous, iconic self. Dybbuk, a dark masterpiece for both its creators, serves Lost Dog's mission to shed light on repertoire that's been unjustly neglected or overlooked, and it's deeply rewarding to fulfill this mission even with a composer now as universally beloved as Leonard Bernstein....It is my hope, with this new sinfonietta orchestration, that Dybbuk will become more frequently and broadly programmed, and at last become recognized as an integral part of the most important legacy in American music."

These sinfonietta orchestrations will offer intriguing fresh perspectives of these major works, which bookend Bernstein's storied, iconic career. Bernstein specialist conductor Jayce Ogren, noted for his performances of Bernstein's Opera A Quiet Place at New York City Opera, as well as the West Side Story Film with Live Orchestra project with major orchestras around the world, will lead the ensemble. Ogren on his involvement: "When I discovered my love of music as a teenager, I simultaneously fell in love with the music of Leonard Bernstein. My small town public library had a terrific recording of his Symphony No. 1, and I was hooked. In my career, I've been so fortunate to conduct the greatest works of Bernstein the populist as well as Bernstein the modernist, from West Side Story to A Quiet Place. Fancy Free and Dybbuk represent the absolute best of Bernstein's stylistic extremes, and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to bring these taut, colorful new orchestrations to life with the superb musicians of Lost Dog New Music Ensemble."

Fancy Free (1944) was Bernstein's breakthrough work, one of his first major public successes as a young composer, and the inspiration for the hit musical On The Town. The ballet tells the story of three sailors on leave in New York City during World War II, on the prowl for adventure (and girls!). The score is celebration of New York, a sparkling touchstone of Bernstein's jazzy, populist style, and of a young composer eager to show off his tremendous talent.

Dybbuk (1974), at turns eerie, wild, savage, and beautiful, is one of Bernstein's last major works, and one of his greatest achievements as a composer. For both authors, the ballet was an exploration of their Jewish identity. The work is inspired by S. Ansky's classic Yiddish play about thwarted love and demonic possession. Bernstein used Kabbalistic numerology as part of his compositional process, and the resulting music is unlike anything else in his catalogue. Extremely virtuosic and challenging, the score is very rarely heard; this will be the only concert performance of the score during the Leonard Bernstein Centennial, fulfilling Lost Dog's mission to shed light on important neglected repertoire.

Friday, June 14, 2019 at 8pm
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 W. 37th St., New York, NY 10018
(212) 594-6100
Tickets: $20

http://bit.ly/LostDog614Bernstein

http://bit.ly/LostDogDiMenna614

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