Member News Release

FOURTH ANNUAL GREATER WEST HARLEM EXTRAVAGANZAS:
“VOICES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD”

What a Neighborhood! presents three free extravaganzas celebrating the creativity of greater West Harlem area residents and featuring the premieres of a musical drama, a cantata, and a piece for instruments made of recycled materials composed by twelve neighbors and one guest artist!

The performances will take place on Sunday, 28 September at 1 pm at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Manhattanville, 521 West 126th Street, ½ block west of Amsterdam; Friday, 3 October at 7 pm at Broadway Presbyterian Church, 114th Street and Broadway; and Sunday 5 October at 2:30 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 164 West 100th Street, just east of Amsterdam Avenue. All venues are accessible by the #1 subway (96, 103, 110, 116, and 125 Street stops) and the M104 bus (100, 113, and 126 Street stops). For more information please call 212-222-2101.

The program, to be performed by the Orfeo Duo, the Valley Lodge Players, soprano Beth Anne Hatton, udderbot-virtuoso Jacob Barton, and the St. Mary’s Gospel Choir, among others, will be as follows:

•    The Green Project, a musical drama with music by the Orfeo Duo, book and lyrics by the Valley Lodge Players, directed by Katherine Howard;

•    Madonna and Child, a cantata by Ishmael Wallace based on the words of neighbors, in particular mothers and children; and

•    The Garden Performance Project, a piece for instruments made of recycled materials conceived by composer Elizabeth Adams and composed in collaboration with twelve other neighbors.

    Brother and sister Ishmael Wallace, pianist, and Vita Wallace, violinist, have performed together as the Orfeo Duo since childhood. Reviewers have praised their “magnificent performances,” saying “this kind of rapport is rare indeed” (Classics Today). Valley Lodge Players, directed by Katherine Howard, comprises residents and alumni of a shelter for older adults. Jacob Barton specializes in playing an instrument he invented: the udderbot. Opera News has praised soprano Beth Anne Hatton’s “voice of gleaming lucidity and tender emotion.” The St. Mary’s Gospel Choir, directed by Janet Dorman and Sheldon Garland, has recently performed at the UN and the African Burial Ground.

These performances are made possible in part by grants from the Fund for Creative Communities and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and made possible in part through the sponsorship of The Field and the 102-103 Streets Block Association. Major support has been provided by Chamber Music America with support from the JPMorgan Chase Residency Re-Grant Program, a program of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and the Chamber Music America Residency Endowment Fund. The Orfeo Duo is a member of Chamber Music America.