North/South Consonance to Continue Free Concerts, 6/5

North/South Consonance, Inc. continues its 32nd consecutive season of free-admission concerts on Tuesday evening June 5, 2012 when the acclaimed North/South Chamber Orchestra performs four works by three generations of composers originally from Latin America but who reached their artistic maturity while living in the US. The concert will start at 8 PM and will take place at the auditorium of Christ & St. Stephen's Church (120 West 69th St – between Broadway and Columbus) in New York City. Admission is free – no tickets needed.

The program will open with the first performance of Ahiri by Sylvia Constantinidis. Born in Venezuela, Ms. Constantinidis has lived in Florida since 1990 where she is active as conductor and music educator. The title of her recently completed work is the Anauya word for "the sun." The composition is a collection of dances inspired by the tangy rhythms often found in the folk-music of her native country.

Rondó malicioso (Malicious Rondo) for bandoneon and chamber orchestra by Juan Pablo Jofre will close the first half of the program. Active internationally as performer, composer and arranger, Mr. Jofre has toured and recorded with Paquito D'Rivera and has been commissioned by the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Dartmouth Wind Symphony and Bachanalia Taiwan. Hailing from Argentina, Jofre has lived in New York City since 2003. His new work is based on an original tango composition. He explains that in his new work "he wanted to preserve his Argentinean tango roots while exploring a decidedly classical context." Mr. Jofre will appear as bandoneon soloist for the work.

Active as tenor and composer, Juan Pablo Contreras studied in California with the late Daniel Catán and recently received his masters degree in composition from the Manhattan School of Music. Born in Guadalajara in México, Contreras has lived in the US since 2006. His new set of songs employs texts by the Mexican poet Dario Carrillo. His work La más remota prehistoria (A Most Remote Prehistory) deals with emotional rupture. Each of the four songs that make up the cycle represent a different stage in the grieving process. Contreras himself will appear as tenor for the premiere.

To conclude the program, the North/South Chamber Orchestra will perform a work by Max Lifchitz -- its founder and music director.

Lifchitz was born and educated in México City but has lived in New York since 1966. His Yellow Ribbons No. 42 belongs to a series of works being written as homage to the former American hostages in Iraq. The single movement work juxtaposes quotations from ancient colonial Latin American hymns, North African melodies, and innovative contemporary techniques.

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