5BMF Presents Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island Premieres of FIVE BOROUGH SONGBOOK, Volume II

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) presents the Staten Island, Bronx, and Brooklyn premieres of the Five Borough Songbook, Volume II, completing the Songbook's journey across all five boroughs of New York City, which began during 5BMF's tenth anniversary season.

The Songbook premieres in Staten Island on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church and premieres in the Bronx the following evening, Sunday, September 17, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. at the Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture. The concerts feature soprano Marnie Breckenridge, mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider, tenor Michael Slattery, baritone Sidney Outlaw, pianist Thomas Bagwell, and cellist Sophie Shao.

On Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. the Songbook completes its journey across New York City with the Brooklyn premiere at National Sawdust in a special finale performance featuring an expanded cast of artists including sopranos Justine Aronson and Marnie Breckenridge, mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider, tenor William Ferguson, baritones Christopher Dylan Herbert and Sidney Outlaw, pianists Thomas Bagwell and Erika Switzer, and cellist Sophie Shao.

The Songbook features twenty new solo works, duets, and ensemble pieces inspired by New York City places, themes, and poetry, commissioned by 5BMF as part of its tenth anniversary season. The works are by some of today's leading composers of new classical music including Matthew Aucoin, Lembit Beecher, Conrad Cummings, Jonathan Dawe, Evan Fein, Daniel Felsenfeld, Herschel Garfein, Whitney George, Marie Incontrera, Laura Kaminsky, Libby Larsen, Hannah Lash, Missy Mazzoli, Jessie Montgomery, Robert Paterson, Paola Prestini, Kevin Puts, Kamala Sankaram, Gregory Spears, and Bora Yoon, with poetry and lyrics by Raphael Allison, Liza Balkan, Alastair Boag, Mark Campbell, Billy Collins, Rinde Eckert, Joyce Kilmer, Federico García Lorca, Leah Maddrie, Rick Moody, Dennis Nurske, Bimbo Rivas, Anna ?wirszczy?ska, KC Trommer, William Ross Wallace, Walt Whitman, and others.

The second volume builds on the success of the initial Five Borough Songbook, which was developed during 5BMF's 2011-2012 season. The original Songbook also featured twenty commissions from twenty different composers that were presented in concerts in all five boroughs, and was preserved as a two-disc recording that topped the Billboard classical charts. The Five Borough Songbook, Volume II received its world premiere on February 11, 2017 at Baryshnikov Arts Center in Manhattan, and its Queens premiere on February 12, 2017 at Flushing Town Hall.

All three concerts are preceded by Composer Chats featuring Songbook creators that are free and open to all ticket holders, beginning half hour prior to each concert.

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Program Information

FIVE BOROUGH SONGBOOK, VOLUME II

Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 4:00 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church - Staten Island Premiere
309 St Pauls Ave.
Staten Island, NY 10304

Marnie Breckenridge, soprano
Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano
Michael Slattery, tenor
Sidney Outlaw, baritone
Thomas Bagwell, piano
Sophie Shao, cello

A Composer Chat, free to all ticket-holders, begins at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets, priced at $15 to $25, are available at www.5bmf.org.

Sunday, September 17, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.
Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture - Bronx Premiere
4450 Fieldston Road
Riverdale, New York 10471

Marnie Breckenridge, soprano
Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano
Michael Slattery, tenor
Sidney Outlaw, baritone
Thomas Bagwell, piano
Sophie Shao, cello

A Composer Chat, free to all ticket-holders, begins at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets, priced at $15 to $25, are available at www.5bmf.org.

Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
National Sawdust - Brooklyn Premiere
80 N 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249

Justine Aronson, soprano
Marnie Breckenridge, soprano
Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano
William Ferguson, tenor
Christopher Dylan Herbert, baritone
Sidney Outlaw, baritone
Thomas Bagwell, piano
Erika Switzer, piano
Sophie Shao, cello

A Composer Chat, free to all ticket-holders, begins at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets, priced at $29, are available by calling 646-779-8455 or visiting www.nationalsawdust.org or the National Sawdust Box Office, open from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. $34 tickets are available at the door on the night of the concert.

MATTHEW AUCOIN Walt Whitman's New Years Greeting for 2017
LEMBIT BEECHER I Missed the Beginning
CONRAD CUMMINGS Lamento del Barista
JONATHAN DAWE The Isle is Full of Noises
EVAN FEIN Musings: The Temple of Dendur
DANIEL FELSENFELD Everything Must Go
Herschel Garfein The Cyclone
WHITNEY GEORGE A Night in Brooklyn
MARIE INCONTRERA Greenwood Cemetery
LAURA KAMINSKY Right to Life
LIBBY LARSEN Running the Boroughs
HANNAH LASH Riverdale
MISSY MAZZOLI Ode to Walt Whitman
JESSIE MONTGOMERY Loisaida, my love
Robert Paterson Crossing the Hudson
PAOLA PRESTINI Aquarium, Coney Island
KEVIN PUTS The Subway
KAMALA SANKARAM The Last Blast of Anthony the Trumpeter
GREGORY SPEARS Aquehonga
BORA YOON Grand Central

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About Five Boroughs Music Festival
Five Boroughs Music Festival's mission is to enrich communities and cultivate new audiences by bringing world-class, affordable chamber music to all corners of New York City. 5BMF collaborates with local cultural institutions to present up-and-coming artists alongside the genre's most distinguished performers, and challenges the standard definition of 'chamber music' by presenting a broad range of musical styles, from early music to contemporary works, world music and other non-classical forms.

Led by founders Jesse Blumberg and Donna Breitzer since 2007, 5BMF has presented over 50 traditional and contemporary chamber music programs in ten complete cycles around NYC. Described as "imaginative" by The New York Times and "vital" by WQXR's Operavore blog, 5BMF's commitment to musical outreach and diverse programming has attracted positive attention from the NYC arts community from its earliest days. 5BMF's artist roster is comprised of diverse, talented emerging artists and distinguished musicians alike. Its venues are just as eclectic, and have included historic NYC landmarks such as Federal Hall, the University Church at Fordham University, Flushing Town Hall, King Manor Museum, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, among many others.

To mark its fifth season in 2011-2012, 5BMF commissioned 20 composers to create the Five Borough Songbook, a collection of 20 unique songs inspired by New York City places, themes and poetry. Throughout the course of the season, the Songbook premiered in every borough of NYC, and was released as a double-CD studio album in 2011 by Roven Records. Following the success of the original Songbook, 5BMF commissioned a second volume of 20 new works for its 10th anniversary; the resulting Songbook, Volume II will premiere in all five boroughs of NYC throughout 2017.

5BMF's programming is rooted in familiar classical music traditions, but is inclusive of a broad range of styles; art song recitals, early music, new music and other non-classical forms are all represented. By employing a broad definition of chamber music and sustaining a commitment to artistic outreach by bringing world class programs to neighborhoods all over the city, 5BMF offers an affordable, intimate concert experience to a wide variety of New York City audiences.

Please visit www.5bmf.org or email info@5bmf.org for more information.