Riverside Symphony Presents GOLDKIND, 6/10

New York's "intrepid" Riverside Symphony will celebrate its 30th-anniversary season at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, on Friday June 10, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. with the world premiere of Goldkind, by Anthony Korf, the orchestra's founding Artistic Director and Composer-in-Residence, and Sabina Sciubba, international pop diva/songwriter, best known for her years as frontwoman for the New York cult-band Brazilian Girls. The new work is based on an original fairytale co-penned by Sciubba and Korf. Singing and narrating, Sciubba, a riveting presence, will join Music Director and Conductor George Rothman and his Riverside Symphony musicians in this trail­blazing work, a 21st-century tribute to Prokofiev's timeless Peter and the Wolf, engaging young audiences and mature listeners alike. The collaboration in part stems from the catholic musical interests of Goldkind's creators: Korf, with his lifelong passion for jazz and pop, and Sciubba, who has closely followed classical music since her early training. Korf characterizes the collaborative experience as "...daunting but inspiring, thanks to Sabina's intuitive depth and brilliance as a performer" and also speaks of his challenge to "...incorporate with integrity" while reaching the broadest possible audience. Sciubba offers that "writing with Anthony Korf was poetically, musically, and humanly very instructive." She also reveals: "Goldkind is very much inspired by my childhood, although distorted, of course, for dramatic value. I added some bizarre elements to it, which wouldn't seem credible in an autobiography."

Mozart and Prokofiev, earlier masters of the magical, will be represented on this cele­bratory program: Mozart, by his youthful Symphony in F major, brimming with wit and promise and Prokofiev, by a lesser-known gem, Summer Day Suite, also composed for young people.
This concert is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Anthony Korf, Riverside Symphony's Artistic Director and Composer-in-Residence, has been commissioned by The American Composers Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The Koussevitsky Music Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts. His honors include a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has received career grants from the Jerome Foundation and the Astral Foundation and was first-prize winner in the inaugural ASCAP Grants to Young Composers. Korf was the founding artistic director and conductor of the Parnassus ensemble from 1975-2002. He is recorded as composer and conductor on Bridge, CRI, Koch International, New World and Summit.

Singer/songwriter Sabina Sciubba is best known for her years as frontwoman and writer for Grammy-nominated New York cult-band BRAZILIAN GIRLS. Apart from having released three records on Verve records with the group, she has recorded, composed, produced and sung on a vast variety of recordings, commercials and films (David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, Me'shell Ndege Ocello, Forro in the Dark, Oscar-winning documentary ‘Born into Brothels', ‘The Party's Over' with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and many more...). She is currently living and working in Paris, France.

George Rothman, music director of Riverside Symphony since its incep­tion, has guest conducted throughout the Far East, Europe, South America, and the United States. His pas­sion for discovery is reflected in his premiere performances of well over 150 new or­chestral compositions and his introduc­tion to New York audiences of seldom-heard works by composers as diverse as Biber, Haydn, and Sibelius, and local premieres of works by Prokofiev and Ravel. He has been widely praised by major critics here and abroad for his musically sensitive, incisive performances and recordings. A native New Yorker, he trained at the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and, as a scholarship student, at Tanglewood Music Center, studying conducting under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He has served on the faculties of Columbia and Yale Universities and currently is Music Director and Conductor of Brooklyn College's Conservatory Orchestra.

Riverside Symphony, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was co-founded in 1981 by George Rothman and Anthony Korf. It's founding focus on discovery- discovery of young artists, unfamiliar works by the great masters and important new pieces by living composers from around the world-informs all of its programming choices. Critically acclaimed for its vibrant performances of music from all periods, the orchestra counts this city's finest instrumentalists among its membership. Riverside Symphony's CDs include a recent release by Bridge Records of music by artistic director Anthony Korf. Forthcoming is a release devoted to major works by the French master Marius Constant. The orchestra's six previous CDs have brought international acclaim, including a 2000 Grammy nomination and Editor's Pick from Britain's Gramophone and The New York Times.

Friday, June 10, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
Single Tickets: $65, $50 & $30 Students ½ price at box office (day of concert only)
For tickets, call Riverside Symphony at 212-864-4197 or visit www.riversidesymphony.org