Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS Launches 2015-16 Michael Palm Series with Takács Quartet on Nov 20
Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS launches its 2015-16 Michael Palm Series of house concerts in New York City next Friday, November 20, with an intimate performance by the Grammy Award-winning Takács Quartet, whose “consummate artistry … is simply breathtaking” (The Guardian, UK). Held at the magnificent Tribeca loft of Simon Yates and Kevin Roon, the event begins at 6:30pm with wine and hors d’oeuvres, followed by the concert at 7:30pm. Tickets may be purchased online at classicalaction.org or by calling 212-997-7717.
The Michael Palm Series of benefit concerts continues on February 27 with a house recital from a stellar quartet of vocalists: soprano Amanda Majeski, who took first prize at the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition; tenor Matthew Polenzani, winner of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award; baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who headlined recent season-opening productions at both Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera; and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, “one of the Metropolitan Opera’s most dependably exciting performers” (Time Out New York).
The series concludes with a special performance by soprano Susanna Phillips, whose honors include the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award, on May 16. It was after a solo recital that the San Francisco Chronicle raved:
“When you sing as beautifully as the young soprano Susanna Phillips does, it almost seems like gilding the lily to spread those gifts around through a range of unusual and provocative repertoire, not to mention working with a pianist of remarkable artistry. Yet Phillips does all those things and more.”
The Michael Palm Series, now in its twelfth season, is a series of intimate house concerts featuring some of the world’s most celebrated opera, classical, and jazz artists, who generously agree to donate their time and talent in support of Classical Action. The series is underwritten by the Michael Palm Foundation, and Palm was a generous, enthusiastic supporter of Classical Action. It was he, more than any other, who spearheaded the concept of private benefit house concerts, hosting several of them himself at his penthouse apartment 37 floors above Lincoln Center. The supporter of a wide range of performing arts and HIV/AIDS organizations, he died in 1998, but his memory lives on in the Michael Palm Series to benefit Classical Action.
About Classical Action
Founded in 1993, Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS draws upon the talents, resources and generosity of the classical, opera, and jazz communities to raise money for those battling HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses. Classical Action helps provide access to life-saving medications, health care, counseling, nutritious meals, and emergency financial assistance for men, women, and children across the country. As a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Classical Action helps fund more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide as well as essential Actors Fund social service programs, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative. More information about Classical Action’s history and mission are available at the organization’s web site: www.classicalaction.org.
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Classical Action: 2015-16 Michael Palm Series
At the home of Simon Yates & Kevin Roon, New York City
Fri, Nov 20
Takács Quartet
Sat, Feb 27
Amanda Majeski, soprano
Matthew Polenzani, tenor
Mariusz Kwiecien, baritone
Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone
Mon, May 16
Susanna Phillips, soprano
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© 21C Media Group, November 2015