Jamie Bernstein Announced as Artist-in-Residence for Tucson Desert Song Festival

Jamie Bernstein, daughter of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, will serve as the Tucson Desert Song Festival's (TDSF) Artist-in-Residence for 2018. Ms. Bernstein, a narrator, writer and broadcaster, will share insights and memories of her father and his work and will provide context to help understand the complex life and career of Leonard Bernstein. As the Festival celebrates the 100th anniversary of her father's birth, Jamie will appear in several venues with TDSF partners, including:

Friday, January 19, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 21, 2 p.m.

Tucson Music Hall, Tucson Convention Center

Kaddish Symphony

Jamie will narrate the Tucson Symphony production of Leonard Bernstein's "Kaddish" Symphony, presenting her own new version of the original narration.

Saturday, January 20, 7:30 p.m.

Jewish Community Center of Tucson:

Tucson International Jewish Film Festival: "On the Waterfront"

Jamie will present the film "On the Waterfront," talking about what she says is her father's favorite film score. Q and A after the film.

Monday, January 22, 4:30 p.m

UA Fred Fox School of Music, Room 143

Leonard Bernstein's Impact on American Music

Jamie will lead a discussion of her father's influence and impact on American composers and musicians with composition students of Professor Dan Asia. Open to the public.

Monday, January 22, 7 p.m

Jewish Community Center of Tucson

Leonard Bernstein's Jewish Heritage

Jamie will participate in a panel discussion surrounding Leonard Bernstein's complex relationship with his Jewish faith and heritage. Other panel members are University of Arizona Faculty members:

Daniel Asia, Professor of Music and Chair of the Composition Department; Dr. Matthew Mugmon, Assistant Professor of Music, and Dr. Gil Ribak, Assistant Professor at the Center for Judaic Studies. George Hanson, TDSF Festival Director, will lead the discussion. The Marana High School Choir under the direction of Sarah Ross will perform excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.

Ms. Bernstein's appearances with the Tucson Desert Song Festival are made possible through the generous sponsorship grants of Louise and James Glasser, and Jill and Herschel Rosenzweig. TDSF is grateful for their support.

For more information and for tickets, visit: TucsonSongFest.org

About Tucson Desert Song Festival

TDSF is a unique, collaborative festival, presented in partnership with Tucson's leading arts organizations. TDSF provides subsidies to its partners, enabling them to bring world-class singers and exciting programs to their stages. It is the Festival's mission to enrich Tucson's musical life, while making the city a true "Culture Destination." The festival provides a world spotlight to shine on Tucson.

Past alumni of the TDSF have included: Jamie Barton, Susan Graham, Christine Goerke, Nadine Sierra, Nathan Gunn, Kelley O'Connor, Amber Wagner, Rene Barbera, Tamara Mumford, Alek Shrader, Daniela Mack, James Valenti, Jill Grove, Heidi Stober, William Burden, Corinne Winters, Anthony Dean Griffey, David Adam Moore, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Angela Brower, Zach Borichevsky and Katie Van Kooten.

www.TucsonSongFest.org

About Jamie Bernstein

Jamie Bernstein is a narrator, writer and broadcaster who has transformed a lifetime of loving music into a career of sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with others. Her father, composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, her mother, the pianist and actress Felicia Montealegre, and their legions of friends in the arts, fostered an upbringing bursting with music, theatre and literature. Jamie's symphony pops concert "Bernstein on Broadway," has enjoyed success with orchestras across North America and features Jamie's concert narration performed live with orchestra and vocalists. She has written and produced several concerts for young people on the music of Copland, Mozart, Bernstein and others including the acclaimed program "The Bernstein Beat," a family concert about her father modeled after his own groundbreaking Young People's Concerts. Jamie also travels the world as a concert narrator, performing both her own scripts and standard concert narrations. She is a frequent speaker and has hosted numerous shows for radio stations in the United States and Great Britain.

Photo: Jamie Bernstein by Steven J. Sherman

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