MSM Jazz Arts at Dizzy’s, An Encore for Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand,” and a French Opera Double Bill (avec US Premiere)

HIGHLIGHTS THIS SPRING: Jazz Arts celebrates Kenton and the D.R. at Dizzy’s; MSM Opera Theater presents French Double Bill; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 gets an encore at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; and MSM Chamber Sinfonia brings Appalachian Spring to Merkin Hall’s What Makes it Great? series.

JAZZ

MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra Quisqueya la bella: March 28 & April 4

• Friday, March 28 at 7:30 & 9:30 PM (Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center –  tickets: jazz.org/dizzys or 212 258 9595)
• Monday, April 4 at 7:30 PM (Borden Auditorium – free of charge, no tickets required)

A night celebrating the music of the Dominican Republic with The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra under the direction of multi-Grammy nominated jazz percussionist and drummer Bobby Sanabria. Two performances: at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center and at the John C. Borden Auditorium at Manhattan School of Music.  

MSM Jazz Orchestra Stan Kenton’s Contemporary Concepts: April 1 & April 11

• Friday, April 1 at 7:30 PM (Borden Auditorium – free of charge, no tickets required)
• Monday, April 11 at 7:30 & 9:30 PM (Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center – tickets at jazz.org/dizzys or 212 258 9595)

The MSM Jazz Orchestra – under the direction of Justin DiCioccio (MM ’71) – plays the brassy, swinging sounds of 1955’s Contemporary Concepts by innovative composer and band leader Stan Kenton, marking the 60th anniversary of this influential recording. Arrangements by Bill Holman and Gerry Mulligan.

Vinyl Live!: MSM Jazz Arts Vocal Combos: March 29 & April 26

·         Tuesday, March 29, 7–9 PM: Theo Bleckmann presents Music of the ’50s and ’60s

·         APR 26, 7–9 PM: Gretchen Parlato presents Music of the ’70s and ’80s

Vinyl Live! is a jazz vocal residency on two Tuesday nights this spring, showcasing up-and-coming jazz vocalists and instrumentalists from Manhattan School of Music’s Jazz Arts Program. Performances at 55 Bar, the landmark, prohibition-era Greenwich Village jazz club – one of the city’s most beloved jazz venues and a favorite room for emerging and A-list jazz performers alike.

OPERA

MSM Senior Opera Le Roi l’a dit (The King Has Spoken): March 30–April 2

Dona D. Vaughn, Director

Jorge Parodi, Conductor

Libretto by Edmond Gondinet

The MSM Senior Opera performs Léo Delibes’s comic opera under the direction of Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director of MSM Opera Theater. All performances begin at 7:30 PM and take place in Ades Performance Space. Free, no tickets required.

MSM Opera Theater: April 27 & 29, May 1

FRENCH DOUBLE BILL

Ibert’s Persée et Andromède (Libretto by Nino)

Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Libretto by Colette)

Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director

James Robinson, Director

Pierre Vallet, Conductor

·         April 27 & 29, 7:30 PM in Borden Auditorium

·         May 1, 2:30 PM in Borden Auditorium

Director James Robinson leads MSM Opera Theater in a French Double Bill of Ibert’s Persée et Andromède (US premiere) and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges. Tickets: msmnyc.edu/tickets or 917-493-4428 ($30 adults, $15 seniors/students). FREE PREVIEW: Wednesday, April 27 at 6 PM at MSM’s Greenfield Hall. No tickets required.

CLASSICAL

MSM Symphonic Chorus & Women’s Chorus with the Oratorio Society of NY: April 7

Manhattan School of Music in collaboration with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Oratorio Society of New York presents a World Premiere of an organ transcription of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major (“Symphony of a Thousand”). Organist David Briggs will premiere his own transcription and arrangement on April 7 at St. John the Divine. This production of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 featuring more than 450 musicians in the world’s largest neo-Gothic space, conducted by the legendary Kent Tritle. Tickets start at $25 and are available at stjohndivine.org

MSM Chamber Sinfonia at Merkin Hall: April 18

NPR Commentator/Conductor/Pianist Rob Kapilow conducts the MSM Chamber Sinfonia in Aaron Copland’s Pulitzer-prize winning Appalachian Spring at the Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall on April 18 as part of the “What Makes it Great?” series. Tickets are available online at kaufmanmusiccenter.org ($45 adults, $23 students with ID).

For inquiries about performances at Manhattan School of Music, please contact Caryn Freitag, Communications and Public Relations Associate, at [email protected].

About MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Founded as a settlement music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today Manhattan School of Music is recognized for its 950 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; a world-renowned artist-teacher faculty; and innovative curricula. The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing postgraduate studies. 

Offering both classical and jazz training – and, beginning in fall 2016, a Bachelor’s degree program in musical theater – MSM grants Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, as well as the Professional Studies Certificate and Artist Diploma. Additionally, true to MSM’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege program continues to offer superior music instruction to young musicians between the ages of five and 18. The School also serves some 2,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2,000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.