Orchestra of St. Luke’s Serenades New Yorkers Live Across Five Boroughs with Free Outdoor Wind and Brass Quintet Performances, Presented as Part of Con Edison’s Arts Al Fresco Series (July 11–22)

“One of the most versatile and galvanic ensembles in the U.S.” – WQXR on OSL

Throughout July, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) – known as New York’s “hometown band” (New York Times) – presents “Summer Serenades: Music for Winds and Brass”: free outdoor performances in all five boroughs as part of Consolidated Edison’s “Arts Al Fresco” series (July 11–22). A quintet of OSL wind players will perform selections from Portraits of Josephine by Valerie Coleman, Performance Today’s 2020 Classical Woman of the Year, with whom the orchestra has just finished a season-long collaboration, along with New York composer Randa Kirshbaum’s arrangement of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, and Ibert’s Three Short Pieces. The OSL brass quintet takes the stage after an intermission to perform the Fanfare from Dukas’s ballet La Péri, selected works by Scott Joplin, Bernstein’s Dance Suite, and a touchstone of the brass repertoire, Malcolm Arnold’s first Brass Quintet.

James Roe, OSL’s President and Executive Director, says:

“As our beloved New York City reopens this summer, we’re so pleased to be touring music through all five boroughs in concerts that are safe, free, and accessible to everyone. The Summer Serenades tour will bring OSL musicians to the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, highlighting our wind and brass players and celebrating the joys of warm weather and shared music. We’re deeply grateful to our sponsors and partners at Con Edison who made this tour possible.”

Con Edison has been a foundational partner of OSL since 1976, when the power company started funding the orchestra’s school concerts. For its new Arts Al Fresco series, Con Edison is providing more than $850,000 in support of outdoor programming to support over 40 nonprofit partners, seeking to promote equitable access to outdoor arts experiences in New York’s neighborhoods and communities.

OSL first formed in 1979 at Caramoor out of the core St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble group; since then, the orchestra has made the Westchester arts destination its regular summer home. After last season’s enforced break from live performance, OSL was thrilled to open Caramoor’s summer season last month—Anthony Tommasini’s glowing New York Times review of the event, the first time the OSL had performed for a live audience in 472 days, can be found here—and will return in August for the Summer Season Finale, an all-Bach program comprising three of the Baroque master’s violin concertos, all directed from the instrument by former Gramophone Artist of the Year Leonidas Kavakos (Aug 8).

About St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, OSL & the DiMenna Center for Classical Music

St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble was founded in 1974, when a group of virtuoso musicians began performing chamber concerts at Greenwich Village’s Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Today, the 24 ensemble musicians make up the artistic core of Orchestra of St. Luke’s, pairing beloved chamber works with lesser-known gems in OSL’s Chamber Music Series and anchoring almost every program presented by the orchestra. Regular seasons also see OSL perform in diverse musical genres at New York’s major concert venues, drawing on an expanded roster for large-scale works, and collaborating with artists ranging from Joshua Bell and Renée Fleming to Bono and Metallica. The orchestra has commissioned more than 50 new works and has given more than 175 world, U.S., and New York City premieres, as well as participating in 118 recordings, four of which have been recognized with Grammy Awards. Internationally celebrated for his expertise in 18th-century music, Bernard Labadie was appointed as OSL’s Principal Conductor in 2018, continuing the orchestra’s long tradition of working with proponents of historical performance practice. Built and operated by OSL, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music opened in 2011. New York City’s only rehearsal, recording, education and performance space expressly dedicated to classical music, it serves more than 500 ensembles and 30,000 musicians each year.

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Orchestra of St. Luke’s Summer Serenades: Music for Winds and Brass

Program:
IBERT: Three Short Pieces
VALERIE COLEMAN: Selections from Portraits of Josephine
STRAVINSKY (arr. Kirshbaum): Pulcinella Suite*
DUKAS: Fanfare from La Péri
JOPLIN: Selected Works
BERNSTEIN: Dance Suite
ARNOLD: Brass Quintet No. 1, Op. 73

*US Premiere of arrangement

Sun, July 11 at 3pm
Bronx
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum

Sun, July 18 at 3pm
Staten Island
Snug Harbor Cultural Center, North Meadow

Mon, July 19 at 7pm
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Outdoor Plaza

Wed, July 21 at 3pm
Manhattan
NYPL for the Performing Arts, Outdoor Reading Room

Thurs, July 22 at 7:30pm
Queens
Queens Theatre, Outdoor Stage
The Summer Serenades series is supported by Con Edison as part of their Arts Al Fresco Series.

Sun, Aug 8 at 4pm
Katonah, NY
Caramoor Summer Season Finale: “Concertos with Kavakos”
With Leonidas Kavakos, directing from the violin
BACH: Violin Concerto in A minor
BACH: Violin Concerto in E
BACH: Violin Concerto in D minor

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© 21C Media Group, July 2021