The North/South Chamber Orchestra Performs FLUID SILK Next Week

The North/South Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Max Lifchitz gathers for their first live performance of the 2021-22 season the evening of Thursday, June 2.

The free-admission in-person event will start at 8 PM and will take place at the acoustically superior auditorium of the W83 Ministry Center located at 150 West 83rd Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

In accordance with CDC recommendations, masks and proof of vaccination required.

The concert will be livestreamed via YouTube and may be accessed by going to https://youtu.be/qSTjGulWDWQ

Featured in the program will be six recent works by composers from the US and Latin America representing a wide spectrum of aesthetic tendencies. They include:

Alejandro Basulto's Serenata Ranchera is a light-hearted serenade inspired by mariachi music. Basulto is a gifted young Mexican composer who trained in Spain and the US before returning to his native Yucatan to teach composition at the Superior School of the Arts in Merida.

Deborah Swanger Fortier's Dream Waltz is a highly lyrical work that aims to convey feelings of hope the composer experienced during the pandemic lockdown. Ms. Fortier is the Associate Director of the Bar Harbor Music Festival in Maine and has long been associated with the Saint David's School in New York City.

Debra Kaye's Rising Up evokes a sun rise and was inspired by the following line from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov "...I see the sun, and if I don't see the sun, I know it's there..." Ms. Kaye's music has been described by the press as "visceral" and "an eclectic unfolding of creativity."

Katrina Krimsky's Fluid Silk was inspired while swimming in sensuous Lake Zürich in Switzerland. Scored for for flute and strings, the serene music illustrates gentle ripples appearing on the surface of a perfectly still lake. Lisa Hansen -- the long time flutist of the North/South Chamber Orchestra -- will be the featured soloist for the premiere of this work.

Max Lifchitz's Brightness Aloft is a set of variations on an iridescent Mexican melody from the 17th century. The music paints exhilarating feelings of rebirth and renewal elicited by the gradual return to normalcy as we leave the pandemic behind.

Astor Piazzolla's Tango-Etude No. 3 will be heard for the first time in a version for for flute and strings especially prepared for this concert by violinist Dylan Hamme. Ms. Hansen will perform the highly virtuosic solo part.

The event is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support from the Zethus Fund, the Music Performance Trust Fund, and many generous individual donors is gratefully acknowledged.