Baruch Performing Arts Center and The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation present Songs of Cuba by the Ossia Chamber Players and guest soloists Elaine Alvarez, soprano, and Orlando Alonso, piano, with the Mozart Academy Ensemble

Friday, May 13, 2011 @ 7:30pm

Engelman Recital Hall

General Admission $25.00
College Students $15.00 (code STU)

Description:

Songs of Cuba by the Ossia Chamber Players is a concert dedicated to some of the most important works of the composers of the classical Cuban music repertoire, including Cervantes, Lecuona, Montsalvage, Caturla, Roig, Vitier and more. The concert will offer audiences a unique opportunity to hear Cuban music performed by Cuban musicians.

The program will include the Ossia Chamber Players, with guest soloists Elaine Alvarez, Soprano, and Orlando Alonso, Piano, with the Mozart Academy Ensemble.

Additional Information:

Baruch Performing Arts Center
Baruch College: 25th St. (bet. 3rd and Lexington Aves.), NYC

For Tickets:
(646) 312-5073
Online Tickets

Artists description:

Elaine Alvarez, soprano

“Luminous” declared the Chicago Sun-Times of Elaine Alvarez’s Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Mimì in La bohème. In a production directed by Renata Scotto and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, the critics were unanimous with praise for the Cuban-American soprano: “Conveying lyric pathos seems to come as naturally to Alvarez as breathing” (Chicago Tribune). Major successes followed as soprano soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater under the baton of Riccardo Muti with the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on tour in Ravenna, Mazara del Vallo, and Athens, as well as celebrated performances of Magda de Civry in La rondine for Oper Leipzig. Most recently, Ms. Alvarez made her Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Violetta in La traviata with Jonas Kaufmann and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson.

Ms. Alvarez begins the 2009 – 2010 season with her Oper Frankfurt debut in La bohème, returning for concert performances of La rondine later in the season at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper. She will also make her Arizona Opera debut in La bohème followed by a much-anticipated Florida Grand Opera debut in her hometown of Miami as Micaela in Carmen. Additionally, Ms. Alvarez will make her Carnegie Hall debut as a featured performer in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Annual Recital. Highlights of future seasons include a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago and performances at the Saito Kinen Festival in Tokyo, Carnegie Hall and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées under the baton of Seiji Ozawa

The 2008 – 2009 season saw Ms. Alvarez as the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Cleveland followed by La bohème at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova with Daniel Oren conducting and a new production of La traviata for Theater St Gallen in Switzerland, under the baton of Maurizio Barbacini. She returned to Oper Leipzig for new productions of La rondine and Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) as well as repeat performances of La traviata.

In past seasons, Ms. Alvarez has been seen in La traviata, Mimì in Peter Konwitschny’s La bohème and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, all with Oper Leipzig. She also toured to Hong Kong for a series of performances of Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Leipzig Ballet and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. For Glimmerglass Opera she created the role of La Comtesse de Breville in the world premiere of Stephen Hartke’s The Greater Good, now commercially available on Naxos Records.

Recitals for Ms. Alvarez have included her Washington DC debut with the prestigious Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and a Marilyn Horne Foundation recital residency at the University of Pittsburgh – Bradford, both in the fall of 2007. As a grand prizewinner of the MHF Competition, Ms. Alvarez made her New York recital debut under the auspices of the Horne Foundation in April 2007.

A native of Miami, Florida, Ms. Alvarez is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Manhattan School of Music, studying with Joan Patenaude-Yarnell and Warren Jones. She currently resides in Miami Beach with her Yorkshire Terrier, Lola the Wonder Pooch.

When: Tue, April 5,6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Where: Harold M. Proshansky Auditorium, The CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street), New York, NY 10016 (map)

Admission: Invite Only

Description:

John Jay College of Criminal Justice will host the John Jay Justice Awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 5th at 6:30 PM, honoring the contributions of three innovative and inspiring individuals whose works exemplify dedication to the cause of justice.

The evening will also include a cocktail reception, a performance by the Ossia Chamber Players and high profile presenters including Tina Brown and Harry Belafonte.

For reservations: (click here)

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of
R. Schumann and F. Chopin

Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 7:30 PM

The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
68th Street (between Park and Lexington)

sponsored by the

Cuban Cultural Center of New York

In the program:
Mozart: Piano Concerto in A, K. 488
Orlay Alonso, piano

Schumann: Fantasie for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 131
Heesun Shin, violin

Chopin: Piano Concerto in F Minor, Op. 21
Juana Zayas, piano

Orlando Alonso, conductor

Our Soloists:

Juana Zayas
The lilting lyricism and impassioned power of pianist Juana Zayas’s playing is born of life experience. Ms. Zayas has performed throughout Europe, South America and the U.S. Known for her exquisite performances of Chopin, she performed this music at Newport Music Festival, 2000 World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Las Vegas, and at Piano Festival Northwest 2003 in Portland. Ms. Zayas is regularly invited by the prestigious Serate Musicali to give recitals at Verdi Hall in Milan and has performed with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Zeeuws Orchestra in the Netherlands, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española in Madrid, the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and with orchestras such as the San Diego Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic. She has performed at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall; Verdi Hall, Milan; Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the French Embassy, Washington, DC; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, Florida; and other venues. Her performances have been broadcast by National Public Radio and WQXR and her recording labels include Music & Arts Programs of America, Albany Records and Zayas Masterworks Inc. Juana Zayas attended the Peyrellade Conservatory of Music in Havana and earned a Gold Medal. She left Cuba to attend the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and earned First Prize in piano and chamber music. Ms. Zayas married in Versailles then moved to New York, where she studied with Adele Marcus, David Bar-Illan and Josef Raieff. Harold C. Schonberg of the New York Times said about her playing: “She filters Chopin’s notes through a fertile mind, with a very personal but never overdone kind of romanticism that looks back to the great pianists of a previous age.” The critical acclaim that Juana Zayas has consistently received over the years has touched on virtually every facet of music-making.

Heesun Shin began her violin studies in Seoul, Korea. At age 11, she moved to the United States to study with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang at the Juilliard School pre-college division. She received her bachelors degree in psychology with distinction from Yale University, spent two years in Vienna studying with Edward Zienkowski at the University of Music, received a certificate of Arts Administration from New York University, a masters degree from the Juilliard School, and is currently an Enhanced Chancellor’s Fellow doctoral student at CUNY. She also teaches part-time at Queens College.She was a top prize winner at the Sion International Competition in Switzerland, Dichler Competition in Vienna, Auswahlvorspiel at the University of Music Vienna, William Waite competition at Yale, Ewha Competition, Chosun Daily Newspaper Competition, and Yook-Young Competition. She is also the recipient of the Joseph Lentilhon Selden Award and Stanton Wheeler Award of Yale University. She has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony of Lithuania under Schlomo Mintz, with Aspen Chamber Symphony under David Zinman, with Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra under Shinik Hahm, Yale Symphony Orchestra, Woodlands Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and has served as the concertmaster and associate concertmaster of Yale Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-college Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic, and Aspen Academy of Conducting Orchestra. Heesun used to participate occasionally in marathons and triathlons, but now she is more interested in flag football, snowboarding, and gymnastics. She loves sports and is considering a topic on sports and music for her doctoral dissertation.

Orlay Alonso
Pianist Orlay Alonso is gaining widespread recognition as a versatile performing artist throughout the United States. With his communicative gifts Mr. Alonso has captivated audiences at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale University, Steinway Hall, Rockwell Hall at Buffalo Sate University, Tishman Hall of the New School University, The Spanish Institute, Lefrak Hall at Queens College, Rosch Recital Hall at SUNY Fredonia, Elebash Hall at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Trinity Church, and the Liederkrantz among others. Both his personable style in addressing the audience and his projective performances go beyond his career as a recitalist; his orchestral appearances as a soloist have been lauded for keeping “the listener’s imagination stimulated at all times” and for being “capable of fine gradations and subtleties” – The New York Concert Review. Mr. Alonso has performed with the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra, Ossia Symphony Orchestra, and the Bronx Arts Ensemble Orchestra and worked with acclaimed conductors such as Maestro Jonathan Strasser, David Gilbert and Orlando Alonso. Mr. Alonso has garnered top prizes in numerous piano competitions such as Kingsville International Piano Competition, Artists International Young Artists Piano Award, Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, Queens College Cultural Heritage Competition, The Young Bronx Artists Competition, Yale School of Music Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition and Isabel Scionti International Piano Competition.

Buy Tickets

Saturday, November 13 from 7-10 pm
at
Club 31
9 West 31st Street, 2nd Floor (5th/Bway), NYC

Jazz and Classical Music Legend and Multi-Grammy Winner
Paquito D’Rivera
joins special celebrity guests
Pulitzer Prize winning playwright
NILO CRUZ
National Book Award recipient
CARLOS EIRE
and renowned concert pianist
HORACIO GUTIÉRREZ
for an amazing Fundraising Party
in partnership with the Cuban Cultural Center of New York
to help the Ossia Symphony Orchestra support its 2010-2011 concert season.

Your $75 contribution will let you enjoy

• an open bar of vintage Italian wines and mojitos

• a gourmet buffet designed and prepared by internationally acclaimed chef Juan Ángel Espasande

• the wonderful music of our guests artists!

Your $100 contribution will additionally include a ticket to the OSO Christmas concert on December 18 at 7:30 pm at The Kaye Playhouse (68th Street between Park/Lexington Avenues) in celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of R. Schumann and F. Chopin

Your $150 contribution will include all of the above plus singed copies of Nilo Cruz’s play Anna in the Tropics and Carlos Eire’s book Waiting for Snow in Havana and signed CDs of guests artists.

Space is limited to 80 guests

For pre-reservations and information contact the OSO at:
ossiasymphony@me.com or 212.494.0066

RSVP by sending your check to:
Ossia Symphony Orchestra
9 West 31st Street, Suite 10E
New York, NY 10001

Checks should be made payable to:
Fractured Atlas, with [In Behalf of the Ossia Symphony Orchestra] in the memo line
All checks must be received by November 9.