Two more concerts! The summer season of the acclaimed Washington Square Music Festival at the Park began last Tuesday and continues this Tuesday, June 24th at 8 p.m. on the Garibaldi Stage, east of the Fountain. The concert will feature soloists Lucia Hyunju Song and Laila Salins accompanied by the Festival Chamber Ensemble performing Vocal Music/Baroque To Modern. It is the 56th season! The concerts are free. First come first served. The next concert skips a month and will take place Friday, August 8th, details below.
From the Washington Square Music Festival:
Ms. Lucia Hyunju Song, soprano, and Laila Salins, mezzo-soprano, are favorite performers with the Music Festival, and this concert includes a premiere of Ms. Salins’ original settings of poems by Anne Sexton. The Festival is under the auspices of the Washington Square Association, Inc.
(World premiere : Francis Poulenc Le Bestiaire (Texts by Guillaume Apollinaire)
Soprano Lucia H. Song is widely praised for her vocal talents and refined musicianship and described by Opera News as “an exceptionally lovely voice, exquisitely touching”. She was the winner of the German Lieder Society Competition and First Prizewinner from the William Garrison Competition, and also received the Best Interpretation Award from the Baltimore Washington chapter of the American Liszt Society. She made her opera debut in the title role in Hänsel und Gretel at the National Theater of Korea. Recent operatic roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amor, Pamina & Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte,
Mezzo-soprano Laila Salins, described as “exceptional in her singing ability, feeling for style and performing intensity” (Zurich Times), has enjoyed a richly diverse career, performing chamber music, world music, jazz, tango, and music theater/opera, starring in the premieres of many contemporary music pieces. She has performed widely throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the US, as well as performing extensively in Latvia. In 2013 Laila completed her new CD, Elevator Into the Sky, her arrangements of Anne Sexton’s poetry for jazz chamber music ensemble.
Rainspace: NYU’s Frederick Loewe Theatre, 35 West 4th Street
Final Concert of the season, Friday, August 8, 8 p.m.:
A Partnership Concert with the International Double Reed Society/NYU
Hosted by oboist Matthew Sullivan.
Rainspace is St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, 371 Sixth Avenue.