The Southern Theater Presents Shara Worden with yMusic 5/4-5

Singer, songwriter and instrumentalist of My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden returns to the Southern Theater with her mix of opera, cabaret, chamber music and rock, sharing the stage with conservatory-trained/pop-savvy yMusic, whose members are some of NYC's most in-demand accompanists. Their credits range from performances with Björk to the New York Philharmonic, Jay-Z to Yo-Yo Ma.

"The new My Brightest Diamond songs for the upcoming album, All Things Will Unwind, are about relationships between seemingly opposing forces, protons and neutrons, fear and bravery, wealth and poverty, being born and dying," said Worden. "Currently in studio recording these songs, yMusic and I will give a rare preview of this new material at the Southern Theater."

Commissioned by The J. Paul Getty Center and inspired by Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, the song cycle Penelope by Sarah Kirkland Snider-composed for Worden and chamber orchestra, newly arranged for yMusic- is a meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to come home. Penelope moves from moments of elegiac reflection to dusky, post-rock textures, narrating a modern veteran's return from war. The work has garnered critical acclaim from NPR, The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, eMusic, textura Magazine, The Utne Reader and many others, with praise such as "the year's most affecting creation" (Time Out New York ), "head and shoulders above much else that was released in 2010" (textura) and "the landmark achievement of 2010" (the Indie Handbook).

Most recently, Penelope has received dozens of year-end accolades, with NPR naming it one of "The Five Best Genre-Defying Albums of 2010," Time Out New York placing it at the top of the "Ten Best Classical Albums of 2010," textura rating it number three on its list of "The Top Ten Albums of 2010," and The Huffington Post naming the track "The Lotus Eaters" one of the "Top 10 Alternative Art Songs of The Decade." Pitchfork called the entire work "a gorgeous piece of music, but it is more - it is also a hauntingly vivid psychological portrait, one that explores a dark scenario with a light, almost quizzical touch, finding poetic resonances everywhere."

Commissioned by The Kaufman Center for performance at Merkin Hall with additional funds provided by the Southern Theater and the Cedar Cultural Center*, Taking Turns in My Skin by Snider is a series of three songs set to poems by Ivanna Yi that explore themes of artistic identity written for Worden and yMusic.

* Funds currently being raised for this new work. Please contact kate@southerntheater.org for information on how to support the creation of Taking Turns in My Skin by Sarah Kirkland Snider. Benefits exist for all levels of donation.

Performances: May 4 & 5, 2011
Wed. & Thu. at 7:30pm
Tickets: $22, $12 student rush
$12 student rush

Southern Theater box office: 612.340.1725
1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55454
http://www.southerntheater.org/2011_05-04_worden_ymusic.htm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113313252070124

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