Tonight’s Juneteenth Celebration at New York’s Lincoln Center was a reflective, fresh, and vibrant source of inspiration for all participants. This nonpareil venue inspired artistic expression and creativity with its lustrous modernist designs, magnificent facades, soaring columns, and capacious plazas. It was a celebration of elegance, sumptuousness, and breathtaking transcendence.
This auspicious event was the fruit of an esteemed collaboration between the Kaufman Music Center and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. Gifted young artists competed for the opportunity to grace the stage and perform major musical works with a symphony orchestra before a packed house in a remarkable concert space.
From a bottomless pit of prison and despair, Stevens mustered sobriety and hope powered by a renewed, unwavering determination, self-worth, confidence, and passion for his craft. His life became a transformative journey of recovery, growth, and personal empowerment. He crushed his alter ego D Man and broke free, becoming a beacon of resilience and strength. Ronald “Smokey” Stevens is a superbly gifted raconteur with an authentic, inspirational story for everyone that must be told.
Performed by the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony at today’s two concerts was Sergei Prokofiev’s delightful Peter and the Wolf featuring WQXR evening host and luminary Terrance McKnight. In this symphonic fairy tale for children, Prokofiev introduced storytelling, the instruments of the orchestra, and abstract thinking associated with how sound can represent images and ideas. This delightful, imaginative experience was pedagogically exceptional for engaging cognitive functions related to symbolic representation, conceptualization, and metaphorical thinking. Most importantly, it was engaging and fun.
The American Classical Orchestra ascended to the stage before a packed house in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Under the baton of conductor Thomas Crawford, the concert began with Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture (1829). Marvelously performed by the ACO, this work resides in the canon of intensely popular music. It was received by the audience akin to the intense adulation witnessed at its performance at the Paris Opéra in 1929.
Beyond Sushi restaurant on New York’s upper east side was a fun, friendly, and comfortable place, delivering an ergonomic experience beyond my expectations. Entering, as my mind briefly drifted into a hazy sentimental sojourn of cheese babka, burgers, pizza, zeppoles, and sausage and peppers, I was mesmerized by the establishment’s skilled chefs who created miraculous textures, flavors, and the beauty of an innovative sushi roll.
This was an evening of Venice City of Lights at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Superlatives hardly describe the quality of the Cathedral Choir in the Rose of the Compass space. The evening offered a transformative musical experience for listeners and performers alike. The beauty and artistry utilized to guide our journey through the historical, artistic and cultural milieu of Venice evoked elation, wonder, and exhilaration. Onlooking participants experienced profound tranquility and introspection, reflection and contemplation, transcendent joy and longing.
Soloists in the ON SITE Opera production of Puccini’s Il Tabarro were consistently marvelous and presented a thrilling performance of a seminal artwork with the support of a splendid chorus, orchestra, and production team. With fine sound, staging, and costumes rendered in a unique maritime setting, we extravagantly experienced the opera’s dramatic and emotional depth characterized through Puccini’s rich, evocative inventions. The performance was a memorable, compelling, and immersive experience.
The Theater for the New City presented Bliss Street, a blockbuster musical production based on the life and times of New York rocker Charlie Sub (played by Blaize Adler-Ivanbroo) and his unique connection to the legendary Coventry Club in Queens, New York. Narrated by Ethyl (Marlain Angelides), Bliss Street depicted Charlie Sub’s growing up in an ever-changing New York City in a family that adapted and survived with panache.
This production of Iolanthe by MasterVoices at Carnegie Hall portrayed the essence of superlative artistry coupled with modern technological tools. Audience members were masterfully delivered full access to every quip, idiom, and reference intended by Gilbert and Sullivan. During the production, laughs, chuckles, cheers, and other affirmations continued. Applause occurred frequently, and the denouement was acknowledged through an extended standing ovation and multiple bows. The soloists, dancer, orchestra, costumes, choreography, and lighting were superb. Sperling’s conducting was masterful, precise, effective, and expressive.
