Darius De Haas Leads Chelsea Symphony Orchestra's Spring Concert Series, 3/27 & 3/28

The Chelsea Symphony announces its fifth concert series of 2009-10 on Saturday, March 27 at 8:00 PM (Spring Concert I) and Sunday, March 28 at 3:00 PM (Spring Concert II) at St. Paul's Church. The program will feature Obie Award winner actor/singer Darius de Haas in composer Aaron Dai's new miniature opera Hamlet: A Pocket Opera. The libretto is by Pulitzer-nominated playwright Jon Marans. Also on the program is music from Verdi's La Forza del Destino, Weber's Der Freischütz, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante will round out the program on Saturday, and Vanhal's Double Bass Concerto on Sunday.

Conductor KyungHun Kim leads the concerts, which features guest conductors Matt Aubin, I Shan Cheng, and Isaac Selya, Patrice Boyd (soprano) Darius de Haas (tenor), Will Robinson (baritone), Peter Van Derick (baritone), Chih-Wei Huang (violin - March 27th only), Kerrick Sasaki, (viola - March 27th only), Andrew Trombley (double bass - March 28th only), and composer Aaron Dai.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation at the door of $20. St. Paul's Church is located at 315 West 22nd Street, New York NY 10011. 

The Chelsea Symphony, hailed as "a daring orchestral experiment" by Chelsea Now, and described as "vibrant" by the New York Times, continues to defy categorization. In addition to performing a regular classical series at its home base in Chelsea, this versatile young orchestra recently presented critically acclaimed concerts at Bargemusic in Brooklyn and collaborated with legendary Wicked composer and Academy Award recipient Stephen Schwartz. Other performances have included special concerts with American Idol star Clay Aiken, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, singer Lillias White, and fashion designer Malan Breton.

The Chelsea Symphony, now in its fourth season, is a non-profit, self-governing group of gifted musicians dedicated to producing performances of the highest quality through a unique organizational model: orchestra members rotate as conductors, composers, and soloists within the ensemble. The orchestra aims to be a cultural focus for Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and to present vibrant concerts of inspiring symphonic music both old and new.

For more information, visit www.chelseasymphony.org.

Photo Credit: Lilian Barbuti