JCC Manhattan Presents PREformances with Allison Charney, 2/2

For the first time in the series' history, PREformances with Allison Charney will have a full chamber orchestra on stage on Monday, February 2nd at 12:30pm at JCC Manhattan. The ArtsAhimsa Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Elefant, will play the orchestral version of Moshe Knoll's glorious setting of Psalm 133 that was developed on PREformances. Laura Goldberg will return to play the virtuosic violin solo, series founder and curator, soprano Allison Charney will sing, and Jordan Charney, veteran actor of stage and screen for over 50 years - and Allison's father - will take on the narrator's role. In addition, Argentinian mezzo-soprano, Malena Dayen, will perform several arias from her upcoming performances of Piazzolla's tango opera, Maria de Buenos Aires and New York Philharmonic cellist, Ru-Pei Yeh and award-winning pianist, Helen Huang, will play Brahms' e-minor concerto for piano and cello.

This concert will kick off Winter-Spring of Season Six of PREformances with Allison Charney, a unique concert series offering audiences rare opportunities to hear celebrated classical musicians before they perform on the world's most prestigious stages, providing a coveted space for engagement and rehearsal whilst dissolving traditional barriers between performer and audience. Funds raised through patron support of the PREformances program will support both The Basser Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania and special programs at The JCC in Manhattan that promote early detection of cancer and care for those living with breast and ovarian cancer. Donations can be made here.

Season Overview for Winter/Spring 2015:

Monday, February 2 12:30pm Monday, March 2 12:30pm Monday, April 13 7:30pm

About JCC Manhattan

Located on 76th Street and Amsterdam, JCC Manhattan is a vibrant non-profit community center on the Upper West Side. The cornerstone of progressive programming in Manhattan, the JCC serves over 55,000 people annually through 1,200 programs each season that educate, inspire, and transform participants' minds, bodies, and spirits. Since its inception, the JCC has been committed to serving the community by offering programs and services that reach beyond neighborhood boundaries. Programs at the JCC reach people at all stages of their lives, and serve the entire family and community.

Jewish Community Center in Manhattan

The Samuel Priest Rose Building
334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street, NY
(646) 505-5708
Subway: 1/2/3 to 72nd St.; Bus: M7 or M11 to West 75th Street Admission: $15; $10 Members; $5 for Ages 62+ www.jccmanhattan.org/preformances

About PREformances with Allison Charney

Opera singer Allison Charney lost her cell phone in a cab. The JCC of Manhattan Executive Director Rabbi Joy Levitt found it. Upon their meeting, a brand new model for a concert series, PREformances with Allison Charney, was born.

PREformances with Allison Charney is truly unique in the vast landscape of NYC musical offerings, as it affords professional classical musicians of the highest caliber* an opportunity to try out something they are preparing to perform somewhere big, in front of an audience who understands that they are seeing a not-quite- finished product. The performers benefit from the slightly pumped up pressure that any public performance brings, without any worry of a possible review, along with an extra chance to hone their performances in this day of massive budget cuts in the arts which severely limits opportunities for ample rehearsal time. Simultaneously, the audience benefits from an up-close-and-personal, barrier-breaking opportunity to get inside the head of a top-notch performer...see what they think about, what their challenges may be, all while hearing the best classical concerts in New York City.

PREformances with Allison Charney maintains its highly accessible concerts with extremely low single ticket prices. However, about to enter its sixth season, PREformances with Allison Charney will also continue its vastly successful and profoundly impactful charitable relationship with the Basser Research Center through its fundraising arm: Friends of PREformances.

Inspired by the incredible philanthropy of Mindy and Jon Gray, whose 25 million dollar gift launched the Basser Center at the University of Pennsylvania, PREformances with Allison Charney will be able to help promote awareness and education at the JCC about breast and ovarian cancers, which coincidentally impact women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, thousands of whom walk through the doors of the JCC annually, at a rate of 1 in 44, or 10 times that of the normal population. All gifts starting at $100 include a season subscription for two to PREformances with Allison Charney with many more perks available at higher levels of patronage, including tickets to exclusive concerts in Manhattan's finest private homes.

Begun in the most ordinary circumstances, PREformances with Allison Charney is now blossoming into a most extraordinary program - one that not only creates beautiful music but could also save lives of countless women at risk.