EFTA01090696.pdf

May 22, 2013 Contact: Clara Schuhmacher FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK: MAJOR PRESENTERS ANNOUNCE PROJECTS FOR THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL, JUNE 21, 2013 RIVER TO RIVER: 9-HOUR CARDEW PIECE IN 7 LOCATIONS CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE: IAM WITH HIP-HOP ICON RAKIM CARNEGIE HALL: LATIN FUNK IN THE BRONX KAUFMAN CENTER: FACE THE MUSIC PLAYS ADAMS SARA VALENTINE: BRASS ASCENSION IN TOMPKINS SQ. PARK FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE: CRICKET ORCHESTRA Plus iazz in Madison Square and Bryant Parks heavenly haws at Cathedral of St. John the Divine Make Music New York, the largest annual musical event in the city's history, will present more than 1,000 free outdoor concerts on Friday, June 21, the first day of summer. Major cultural organizations have enriched MMNY with first-rate programming since the first festival in 2007; this year's installment is filled with exciting offerings from River to River, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, Central Park Summerstage, Kaufman Center (Merkin Hall), Joe's Pub, Friends of the High Line, Bryant Park, Cathedral of St John the Divine, ABC No Rio, and Sara Valentine among others. Like the festival as a whole, these concerts span virtually every musical genre, including jazz, funk, pop, classical, hip-hop, world music, and more. A full schedule of events will be posted at www.makemusicny.org on May 28th. Beginning at noon on June 21, in partnership with River to River, Mantra Percussion will lead the New York premiere of Cornelius Cardew's 1970 masterpiece The Great Learning, travelling between seven public spaces over nine hours in Lower Manhattan. (The full itinerary will be posted on May 28th.) The Great Learning is a work in seven parts, based on translations of Confucius by Ezra Pound, and written for trained and untrained musicians performing on pipe organ, slide whistles, percussion, double basses, voice, and more. Due to its extreme and unconventional demands, a complete performance of The Great Learning is exceedingly rare. Joining Mantra Percussion will be Nick Hennies from Austin New Music Co-op, and dancers from the Shakedown Dance Collective led by Deborah Lohse and Jamie Benson, a group formed out of last year's River To River presentation of Sylvain Emard's Le Grand Continental. Central Park Summerstage continues its tradition of French programming for Make Music New York (an event that originated as France's Fête de la Musique) with a performance by French [MORE] EFTA01090696 hip-hop group IAM at 7:00pm at the Rumsey Playfield, featuring special guest Rakim. Formed in 1988, IAM's hip-hop mixes both rage and intelligence, infused with the sounds of Ancient Egypt, Africa, China, Japan, India and American music. Legendary hip-hop artist Rakim's iconic album Paid in Full has been deemed "the greatest Hip-Hop album of all time" by Rolling Stone. Few artists have had as great an impact on the development of the genre. Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts returns to the Bronx for MMNY, presenting the sizzling Latin band Son de Madre at 6:00pm at the Jacobi Medical Center. With musicians from Cuba, Argentina, Israel, Puerto Rico, and the US, the band mixes music from across the world. They have performed with all-star artists like Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera, and Victor Manuel, and have been featured on Univision and Telemundo. At 6:30pm the Kaufman Center presents its resident teen new music ensemble Face the Music, along with Baltimore's Peabody Prep Wind Symphony, in a 2-hour showcase including major works by John Adams, down the block from Merkin Hall on the MLK Educational Complex Plaza at 122 Amsterdam Ave (at W. 65th St). From 4 - 8:00pm, veteran independent producer Sara Valentine will present the "Brass Ascension" in Tompkins Square Park, celebrating the city's brass scene, from downtown all- stars to community band members. Performers will include The Himalayas (led by Kenny Wollesen), PitchBlak Brass Band, Lucky Chops Brass Band, a double brass quintet from the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, Shinbone Alley Stilt Band, an all-brass conduction by Thomas Zlabinger, and a special appearance by Extra Action Marching Band from Oakland, Calif. Outside the Cathedral of St John the Divine at 6:30pm, conductor Kent Tritle leads a participatory "Mass Appeal Mass" for any singers who want to join. This year's event features the music of Gabriel Faure accompanied by a pick-up harp ensemble led by Alyssa Reit. Repertoire will include Faure's Requiem in D Minor and Cantique de Racine. Some of New York's loveliest parks are also joining the celebration. At a lunchtime concert at 12:30pm in Bryant Park, wide-ranging jazz trombonist Reut Regev leads her Time trio, presented by the Consulate General of Israel in New York. In the afternoon, Madison Square Park will feature accomplished jazz players from The New School, including Chris Stover, Kyle Poole, Alex Claffy, and Max Zooi. And the Friends of the High Line, in conjunction with High Line Art Performances, will present artist Mungo Thomson's chamber orchestra of violins, flutes, and percussion that will mimic the sounds of crickets in a series of short musical interludes based on field recordings from around the world. Crickets will take place on the High Line at dusk to emulate the time of day when crickets make noise. As previously announced, Joe's Pub will present a Beck "Song Reader" stage for MMNY in a block party at Astor Place; ABC No Rio will once again curate Punk Island, with more than 75 bands creating an intense 11-hour punk experience on Saturday, June 22. Due to construction on Governors Island, the event will move to Staten Island's recently renovated "Coast Guard" pier, 100 yards south of the Ferry Terminal in St George, with dramatic harbor views. All Make Music New York events are free to the public, no tickets required. Further information is available at www.makemusicny.org. # EFTA01090697