PO Box 1066, Village Station
New York NY 10014-0706
Public information number: 212-252-3621
E-mail: info@washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org
THE FIFTY-SECOND SEASON: MUSIC IN WASHINGTON SQUARE RETURNS
4 Tuesdays in July
This summer the Washington Square Music Festival will return to Washington Square Park for a joyous season of free chamber music and jazz, Tuesdays in July, 2010 at 8 pm , in front of the Holley statue in Washington Square, northwest quadrant. Featured works are by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905-63), an extraordinary German composer who studied with Anton Webern. Hartmann was a fierce fighter against the Nazis. His music is not as well known in the US as it is in Germany . The programs are subject to change.
July 6
Luigi Boccherini Opera Piccola -- four flute quintets
Maurice Ravel Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and strings
K.A. Hartmann Kleines Konzert for string quartet and percussion
July 13
K.A Hartmann Tanzsuite
Joseph Haydn Symphonie Concertante in B flat
Theodore Dubois Dixtuor
July 20
A program of American musical theater works from the 30ties to WWII and European Spa and Salon Music ( Kurorchestermusik ) Featuring baritone Kenneth Overton, founder of Opera Noire of New York, Mezzo-soprano Laila Salins and accordionist & composer William Schimmel with the Festival Chamber Ensemble
July 27 Charles Mingus Orchestra
Jazz compositions by the late, great Charles Mingus
Rainspace is St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, 371 Sixth Avenue at Washington Place in Manhattan 's Greenwich Village . FREE!
The Festival was founded in 1953 by violinist and neighbor Alexander Schneider: www.sasha-schneider.com/ member of the famed Budapest String Quartet, and the Washington Square Association, Inc. Over the years the concerts have become a venerable summer tradition, shaped by Peggy Friedman, executive director, our late music director Henry Schuman, and our current music director, Lutz Rath, as well as talented musicians, countless patrons, volunteers and neighborhood civic groups that make the Festival such a popular cultural and civic event.
The sole activity of The Washington Square Music Festival is to present free concerts. New York has other free outdoor classical concert series, but only the Washington Square Music Festival is sponsored by a local civic organization, the Washington Square Association, Inc., which dates back to 1913 -- www.washingtonsquarenyc.org/ .
The Festival often features young musicians. Several now-famous performers have appeared in Washington Square in early stages of their careers, including soprano Marilyn Horne and her husband, the late conductor Henry Lewis, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, violinist Tom Chiu, AmorArtis Chorus, and conductors Gunther Schuller and George Manahan. Internationally known musicians who have appeared in the Square include: conductor Gürer Aykal & violinist Suna Kan (The Presidential Orchestra of Turkey), cellist Lutz Rath, conductor and oboist Henry Schuman; composer-conductor Virko Baley, and violinist Ole Böhn (concertmaster, Norwegian Opera Orchestra), and soprano Gabriella Tucci.
On the jazz front, the Charles Mingus Orchestra, Felix Swing Band and Panama Francis and His Savoy Sultans have made the audience in Washington Square Park dance in the aisles while Johnny Colon and His Orchestra brought classic salsa to the park. Cuartetango String Quartet played sizzling Argentine tango with authentic dancers. In 2008, Gamelan Son of Lion gamelan orchestra, joined with festival musicians performing Lou Harrison's Double Concerto for violin & cello with gamelan orchestra.
The current and recent funding sources for the Washington Square Music Festival are: public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through the good offices of Senator Thomas K. Duane. US Recording Companies fund in part the instrumental music for the series, as arranged by Local 802, American Federation of Musicians. Generous grants from Earle T. & Katherine Moore Foundation, The The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Margaret Neubart Foundation Trust, New York University Community Fund, The Washington Square Association, Con Edison, Salamon-Abrams Family Fund, Greenwich Village Block Associations, Jane Street Block Association, Washington Square Hotel, Emigrant Savings Bank, and Bleecker Area Merchants' & Residents' Association are deeply appreciated.
Peggy Friedman, Executive Director
Jean Lyman Goetz, Festival Manager
Laima Hood, chair, Board of Directors
Lutz Rath, Music Director
Suzette Jacobs, Associate Music Director
PO Box 1066
Village Station
New York NY 10014-0706
212-252-3621
info@washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org