The Colors of Spring Concert - May 20 @ 8 PM in New York City

The North/South Chamber Orchestra, directed by Max Lifchitz, celebrates spring performing music by composers from Canada, China, and the Americas.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The North/South Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Max Lifchitz, will celebrate spring on Tuesday evening, May 20, 2025, with a free-admission concert featuring engaging and accessible vocal and instrumental works by composers from Canada, China, and the Americas. Soprano Anna Elder will be the featured soloist for the event.

For the first time, music by Cathy Kuo, Alexandro Rodriguez, Judith Shatin, Liliya Ugay, and Manjing Zhang will be performed in New York.

The in-person event will begin at 8 PM and conclude around 9:30 PM. It will take place at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, located at 450 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018.

As there are limited seats available, those wishing to attend should email <ns.concerts@att.net> to reserve a spot.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC

Chia-lin Cathy Kuo is a Taiwan-Canadian composer whose works encompass orchestral, chamber, and multimedia genres. Raised in Taiwan, she began her musical journey by composing music for television commercials before pursuing formal studies in composition at the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Irvine. Her participation in this program is made possible by a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Ms. Kuo's composition, "The Colors of Spring," is a vibrant three-movement work that celebrates the season of renewal and the joy of artistic dialogue across time.

Originally from Venezuela, multi-faceted Alexandro Rodriguez has been active in the New York music scene for several years, working as a guitarist, arranger and producer in the fields of jazz and commercial music. He has collaborated with among others, in the jazz scene, with Mario Bauza and Eddie Palmieri. Rodriguez's Wind Landscapes was especially written for the occasion. It consists of five movements, each inspired by wind phenomena associated with spring.

Judith Shatin is a composer and sound artist whose work connects with our social, cultural, and physical environments. She graduated from The Juilliard School and Princeton University and has received grants from both the New Jersey and Virginia Arts Councils, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. The 9th-century Byzantine abbess, poet, and hymnographer inspired Shatin's composition "Kassia." Kassia is the only woman whose hymns are included in the Eastern Orthodox liturgy and is likely the first named woman whose music has survived to this day. The music transitions from a gentle opening and meditation to cries of regret, encompassing pensive yearnings and dreams of a world beyond.

Liliya Ugay, originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a composer and pianist whose work explores themes of the immigrant experience, female physicality, and motherhood. Her music has been described as "evocative" by The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal has praised it as "assertive, steely... then lovely and supple in its writing." It has also been characterized as "fluid and theatrical, featuring sharp atonal gestures alongside folk-inspired elements. The creative decisions in her music serve clear expressive purposes, ensuring that it communicates its message with immediacy." "Morning Call" marked Ugay's first collaboration with New York/Khmer poet Sokunthary Svay. Ugay notes that this piece was created just a few days after witnessing her sister become a mother. It focuses on the feelings of a new mother, capturing a blend of tenderness and tiredness, as well as both anxiety and excitement for the life of the newborn child.

Soprano Anna Elder will be the featured soloist for this performance. She is known as a versatile musician who often pushes the boundaries of the human voice and enjoys composing, improvising, and commissioning new music. The New York Times described her as "ethereal... a voice that has blues, reds, and purples in it."

Manjing Zhang is a dedicated composer and pianist who currently teaches at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in China. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Minnesota. Babel Scores publishes her music, which has been performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Her piece "Every Grass and Tree is Spring" was inspired by the gentle spring breezes that rustle through the grass, trees, and mountain streams.

Founded in 1980, North/South Consonance, Inc. is dedicated to promoting music by composers from the Americas and around the world. Its activities are supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as grants from the Music Performance Fund, the BMI Foundation, and the generosity of numerous individual donors.

For further programming information, please visit the North/South Consonance website @ https://www.northsouthmusic.org/

Max Lifchitz
North/South Consonance, Inc
nsinfo@northsouthmusic.org
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