Erika Banks and More to Join OMNI Ensemble's 30th Anniversary Concert, 4/18 & 20

The OMNI Ensemble will conclude its 30th season of concerts in the recital hall at the Center for the Performing Arts at the College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Boulevard on Thursday afternoon, April 18th at 3:00 pm and at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music on Saturday evening, April 20, 2013 at 8:00 pm. Music Director/Flutist David Wechsler will be joined by guest artists Erika Banks, vocal, Jim Ponzi, guitar, Art Bailey, keyboards, Jennifer Vincent, bass, and Dave Forman, drums.

The resident chamber music group of the Brooklyn Conservatory for the 30th year, the OMNI Ensemble continues to perform concerts of wide-ranging variety, designed to provide their audience with a musical diversity not usually encountered in one chamber music group. The upcoming program will include works from the Renaissance done electronically, as well as other music by John Coltrane, Cole Porter, Vernon Duke, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, The Beatles, Donovan, the World Premiere of David Wechsler's Songs From The Lunar Philharmonic, and electronic improvisations. Throughout the season they perform in the recital hall at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.

This concert is being streamed live over LivLive at this link: www.livlivemusic.com/BrooklynConservatory.

Tickets at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music are $15.00, $10.00 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available in advance through our website, www.theomniensemble.org or directly from Eventbrite at www.april20concert.eventbrite.com. or at the door prior to the performance. Admission to the College of Staten Island concert is free.

The Brooklyn Conservatory is located at 58 Seventh Ave. at the corner of Lincoln Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Accessible by Q or B train to Seventh Ave. or IRT #2 and 3 to Grand Army Plaza. The College of Staten Island is located off the Staten Island Expressway at the Victory Blvd. exit. For further information and ticket reservations, call 718 859-8649.

The OMNI Ensemble is a chamber music group created to perform a uniquely flexible repertoire. From the Renaissance to the contemporary Avant-Garde the ensemble presents programs of enormous variety, all designed to provide their audience with a musical diversity not ordinarily encountered in a single musical event. This variety of styles endows the group with its unique perspective. The core of The OMNI Ensemble is David Wechsler, flutes, saxophones and midi wind controller, Brian Snow cello, and James Johnston, piano and synthesizer. Since 1983 The OMNI Ensemble has produced a successful concert series noted for its innovative combination of programming and guest artists. These have included Composer/Instrumentalist David Amram, Mezzo Sopranos Katherine Ciesinski, Charlotte Hellekant & Misa Iwama, Harpsichordists Gerald Ranck & Rebecca Pachevsky, Performance Artist John Kelley, Kumongo player Jin Hi Kim, Saxophonist Roy Nathanson and accordiionist Guy Klucevsek. Comissioned composers have included David Lang, Lee Hyla, Michael Bushnell, Eric Klein, Allen Campbell, David Wechsler and Jim Lahti. The OMNI Ensemble recently released our first CD entitled the OMNI Ensemble plays the Music of Jim Lahti. The OMNI Ensemble has appeared on NPR, WNYC radio, The Voice of America, Hawaii Public radio, WKCR, and WQXR, as well as Westchester Public Access television.

REPERTOIRE:

David Wechsler:

Program subject to change