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| Gershwin 115th Birthday Celebration The Grammy Award-nominated conductor Steven Richman and Harmonie Ensemble/New York, called "first rate" by The New York Times, will present a George Gershwin 115th Birthday Celebration Concert on Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 3 pm at Christ & St. Stephen's Church, 120 W. 69th Street, between Broadway and Columbus, New York City. The diverse program will feature renowned pianist Lincoln Mayorga in solo piano works and jazz trio versions of Gershwin and his contemporaries who influenced him: Zez Confrey, Victor Herbert, Bix Beiderbecke, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern. In addition, Mr. Mayorga and NYC Ballet Concertmaster Kurt Nikkanen will perform Gershwin's Three Preludes, arranged by Jascha Heifetz. Mr. Richman will conduct the 20-piece Ensemble in sparkling Ferde Grofé "symphonic jazz" arrangements of Gershwin tunes including Fascinating Rhythm, The Man I Love, Somebody Loves Me, I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise, and more, done in the 1920s for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The Gershwin 115th Birthday Celebration is coincidental in that the date of the premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was Feb. 12, 1924, Lincoln's 115th Birthday! Harmonie Ensemble/New York and Mr. Richman performed a record-breaking series of concerts at Lincoln Center encompassing all of Gershwin's original orchestrations, and their Gershwin by Grofé cd on Harmonia Mundi received extraordinary critical acclaim worldwide. Mr. Richman was called "the finest Gershwin interpreter around, barring none" by preeminent Gershwin author Edward Jablonski. write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Jazz News :: home page |