Five Boroughs Music Festival Unveils Spring 2024 Season

New York City's Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) has revealed its Spring 2024 Season with three major programs across the city reflecting the diversity and richness of its musical talent in Manhattan and beyond. Beginning in April with Project Earth, 5BMF presents the Iris Trio in a call to action about the current environmental crisis, followed by two performances by the Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet, the Latin Grammy Award-winning group that celebrates the traditions of tango from its roots in Orquesta típica to the contemporary. In May, 5BMF presents the exciting Latin and tropical supergroup People of Earth (PoE) in partnership with Bronx Music Hall's “Nuevas Voces” series.

"In my new role as General and Artistic Director of Five Boroughs Music Festival,” said Leah Hollingsworth, “I'm excited to bring this cornucopia of vibrant chamber music to all the corners of New York City. I love that the diversity of music in this city reflects the diversity of its people, and so does 5BMF's programming.”

Project Earth – performed in two concerts on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the Fotografiska  Museum in Manhattan (in partnership with the Human/Nature exhibit) and Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church on Staten Island – is the Iris Trio's multi-year endeavor to illuminate the impact of human behavior on the environment, addressing issues of climate change, pollution, habitat degradation, and biodiversity loss through chamber music and poetry. While giving center stage to the immense beauty and wonder found in nature, the project is divided into three chapters: the Blue, Green, and White Chapters. The Blue Chapter consists of three original works by celebrated Canadian poet, Don McKay (Governor General's Award, Griffin Poetry Prize), and Juno-nominated pianist and composer, Florian Hoefner. The Green Chapter features new commissions by Juno Award-winning musicians Sarah Slean and Andrew Downing and original poetry by Griffin Prize-winning poet, Karen Solie. Excerpts from the Blue and Green chapters will be presented at these two concerts, along with Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio on Staten Island. 

On Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. at the Bronx Music Hall and on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at Littlefield Performance + Art Space in Brooklyn, 5BMF presents the Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet: From Tradition to the Future. Pedro Giraudo, who has become an active cultural ambassador of this beautiful and passionate music of his native Argentina, brings something new and exciting to the form while retaining all the lushness and beauty of tango. As a composer and arranger, Giraudo has been hailed as one of the most creative and daring bandleaders on the scene today. His compositions combine his love of classical forms, Argentine tango, and folk music, and the spontaneity of jazz improvisation. The program includes selections from great tango masters from the 1930s to the present - from Alfredo Gobbi, Francisco Canaro, Osvaldo Pugliese, and Astor Piazzolla to Pedro Giraudo. The program offers the audience insight into how tango evolved from marginal venues to cafes and dance halls, and finally to prominent concert halls. The musical journey will be accompanied by short anecdotes about the main figures in the history of tango, as well as some explanation of the principal rhythms of the genre (milonga, waltz, and tango). The performance in the Bronx is presented in partnership with Bronx Music Hall's “Bronx Rising” series and Tango Festival. 

In May, 5BMF brings People of Earth to the stage for two lively concerts on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at Bronx Music Hall and on Sunday, May 12, 2024 in Queens (Venue TBA). The 13 musicians in the PoE supergroup represent a cross-section of the world, boasting an array of some of the best talent from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland, Haiti, Greece, and more. With three singers, backed by four horns, three percussionists, two keyboards, and electric bass, the band performs an array of “American Timba Music”—a term coined by People of Earth to describe their distinctive repertoire that seamlessly weaves together influences from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and Black American Music. The setlist also includes commissioned pieces from Cuban maestros Dafnis Prieto and Pachy Naranjo Jr., along with classic Cuban standards by luminaries such as Cesar Pedroso and Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe as nods to Haitian Compas and Hip Hop. The performance, delivered in a blend of Spanish, English, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese, serves as a vibrant celebration of the rich and unifying heritage of the Americas and the Caribbean.

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Concert Information

5BMF Presents IRIS TRIO: PROJECT EARTH

Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Fotografiska  Museum | 281 Park Ave. South | New York, NY
In partnership with the Human/Nature exhibit
Tickets: Ticket info coming soon
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.

Trinity Lutheran Church | 309 St. Pauls Ave.
Tickets: $20 Adult, $10 Student/Senior
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Program:
Excerpts from the Blue and Green Chapters will be presented at these two concerts, along with Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio on Staten Island. 

Artists:
Iris Trio
     Christine Carter, clarinet 
     Zoë Martin-Doike, viola
     Anna Petrova, piano

5BMF Presents PEDRO GIRAUDO TANGO QUARTET

Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Bronx Music Hall | 438 E. 163 St.
In partnership with Bronx Music Hall's “Bronx Rising” series and Tango Festival
Tickets: Ticket info coming soon
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. 
Littlefield Performance + Art Space | 635 Sackett St.
Tickets: Ticket info coming soon
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Program:
Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet: From Tradition To The Future
Selections to be announced from the stage

Artists:
Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet
     Nicolás Danielson, violin
     Rodolfo Zanetti, bandoneón
     Ahmed Alom, piano
     Pedro Giraudo, compositions and bass

5BMF Presents PEOPLE OF EARTH

Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Bronx Music Hall | 438 E. 163 St.
In partnership with Bronx Music Hall's “Nuevas Voces” series
Tickets: Ticket info coming soon
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Sunday, May 12, 2024
QUEENS Venue TBA
Tickets: Ticket info coming soon
Link: https://5bmf.org/ 

Program:
“American Timba Music”—music selections with influence from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and Black American Music. 

Artists:
People of Earth

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About the Iris Trio

Praised for their “beauty of sound and striking expression” (Bremen Weser Kurier), the Iris Trio (clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Zoë Martin-Doike, and pianist Anna Petrova) is known for their imaginative programming and powerhouse performances. 

Their 2013 debut at the German Consulate in New York City was met by a sold-out audience and followed by an immediate invitation to the prestigious Mozartfest in Würzburg, Germany. The Trio subsequently gave the world premiere of Christof Weiß's Conversation Among Friends at the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Residence Palace and were featured in Michael Wende & Andreea Varga's documentary, MozartLabor. They have since performed extensively across North America and Europe.

In 2018 the Iris Trio toured their project, Homage and Inspiration, across Germany, pairing works by Schumann and Mozart with modern tributes to these masterpieces by György Kurtág and Christof Weiß. The Bremen Weser Kurier commented on the ensemble's “tremendously expressive, exciting and pointed performance,” the Amberger Zeitung remarked that “their ensemble playing is simply fabulous, perfectly balanced, admirable in its rhythmic security and virtuosity,” and the Augsburger Allgemeine offered "... it was a musical and lively performance, strong in the technical nuances, and with an exquisite balance of sound." The final concert of the tour took place at the renowned Sendesaal in Bremen, where the Trio recorded their debut album, Homage and Inspiration. The album was released in 2020 on the German Coviello Classics label to international acclaim. The Canadian Broadcasting Company named it “one of the top 10 upcoming Canadian albums to get excited about,” Spain's Ritmo Magazine designated it a special release, noting that the Trio had “ admirable sound balance ... delicacy and profound knowledge,” and Fanfare Magazine praised the album as “a five-star, real stand-out release.”

The Iris Trio continues to commission and champion the work of inspiring living artists. Project Earth, their most recent interdisciplinary commissioning project, strives to illuminate the impact of human behavior on the environment, addressing issues of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while recognizing the power of our collective imagination to create meaningful change. Through this multi-chapter project, the trio has collaborated with celebrated poets Don McKay and Karen Solie (both Griffin Poetry Prize winners), and internationally acclaimed Juno-nominated composers Florian Hoefner, Sarah Slean, and Andrew Downing.

The Iris Trio's recent engagements include residencies at the University of Louisville, Kentucky and Memorial University in St. John's, Canada, as well as concert tours in Canada and Europe. All three members of the Trio are active recitalists and educators in their own right. Collectively, they hold positions at Memorial University, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York City), and University of Louisville, and have performed around the world on major concert stages from Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Sydney Opera House.

About Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet
Latin GRAMMY winner Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet is a virtuoso quartet that elegantly brings the beauty and passion of the tango repertoire into the world of chamber music.

The Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet is widely acknowledged as one of the most compelling tango ensembles today, moving forward from the giant footsteps of Astor Piazzolla, and continuing to take this musical genre into new territories. With immense respect for its roots and rich musical past, the ensemble effectively serves as an active ambassador of tango and a proponent of its evolution. The quartet's fervent and virtuosic musical style takes elements from Argentine tango, European classical music, and American jazz, and combines them gracefully and organically, bringing something new and exciting to the form while retaining all the lushness and beauty that characterizes the genre.

The NYC-based ensemble is very active and has performed at Lincoln Center, Moab Music Festival, Chamber Music Raleigh, Arizona Music Festival, Richmond, Lowell and Montana Folk Festivals, BAM, NJPAC and the DiMenna Center. They have also performed and led workshops at Dartmouth College and the University of Maryland, and have collaborated with the Chesapeake Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, the Washington Heights Camerata, and the UMBC Orchestra.

As bassist, composer, and arranger, Pedro Giraudo's biography includes two decades performing with the most important interpreters of tango. Among the many noteworthy events in his career, he recorded bass on Ruben Blades' CD Tangos, which won both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy, and collaborated as a performer and arranger for one of New York's most respected institutions: The New York Philharmonic. He has also performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Pablo Ziegler, Hector Del Curto, and Luis Bravo's Forever Tango.

The other members of the quartet are three of the most prominent musicians in the tango world: Nick Danielson (violin) is Assistant Concertmaster of the NYC Ballet Orchestra and enjoys a distinguished career in both the classical and tango worlds; Rodolfo Zanetti (bandoneón) is recognized as one of the most illustrious solo bandoneonists in the United States, performing at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; Ahmed Alom (piano) has been considered a prodigy since the age of 14, winning numerous international prizes in piano competitions, and now living in New York, where he continues to garner acclaim.

People of Earth

People of Earth is a global music collective quickly emerging as one of the United States' most exciting Latin and tropical bands, with an explosive blend of the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and beyond. The 13 musicians comprising this supergroup represent a cross-section of the world, boasting an array of some of the best musicians from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland, Haiti, Greece, and more.  

Formed in 2017, the band has performed at acclaimed venues including Disney Hall in LA, The Kennedy Center in D.C.,  The Kimmel Center and Mann Center in Philadelphia, and The New World Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. 

PoE, as the band is often referred to, has a frontline of three singers, backed by four horns, three percussionists, two keyboards, and electric bass.  The band plays original music that blends influences from Cuban Timba and Rumba, Puerto Rican bomba and plena, Haitian Kompa, Brazilian MPB, and American soul, RnB, and hip hop, with songs in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Creole.  

In 2019 PoE partnered with Musical America's Conductor of the Year Teddy Abrams and won a grant from New Music USA to commission MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto to compose a concerto for the band and string orchestra.  The piece, entitled Tentacíon was premiered in 2022, with Maestro Abrams conducting,  in a tour that included performances with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Britt Festival Orchestra.

People of Earth's debut self-titled album was released in May of 2023 on the Truth and Revolution Records label, and features a guest appearance from acclaimed Brazilian singer Marcos Costa. The album's nine tracks include seven original compositions by members of the group along with a cover of Djavan's Te Devoro and Leonard Bernstein's Mambo.

In addition to being a powerhouse performing group, People of Earth is devoted to education, and its members are veteran teaching artists who have led workshops at such venues as The Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony and many more. The band has presented children's concerts for The Mann Center, 92nd Street Y, and Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. The members of People on Earth are committed to using music as a vehicle for social change, and through sharing their passion for warm-blooded groove music hope to facilitate dialogue, create cultural connections, and spread joy ultimately making the world a better place.

About Five Boroughs Music Festival

Since 2007, Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) has brought virtuosic chamber music performances of the highest caliber to every borough of NYC, cultivating new audiences for the genre and encouraging music lovers to look beyond Manhattan for outstanding performances. Lauded as “imaginative” by The New York Times, “enterprising” by The New Yorker, and “vital” by WQXR's Operavore blog, 5BMF's commitment to musical outreach and diverse programming has distinguished it as a standout presence in the New York City arts community from its earliest days.

5BMF's artist roster of over 500 individual performers and ensembles is comprised of talented emerging artists and distinguished musicians alike, representing a diverse range of musical genres and styles. Its venues are just as eclectic and have included performing arts spaces, cultural centers, and historic New York City landmarks such as Federal Hall, Pregones Theater, Flushing Town Hall, King Manor Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society, the Alice Austen House, and the Staten Island Museum, to name merely a few.

As champions of new music, 5BMF has commissioned over 70 composers and presented world premieres of their works all across New York City, most notably the borough-wide tours of its quinquennial commissioning project, the Five Borough Songbook Volumes I, II and III. 5BMF's outreach initiatives continue to expand every year and have included program-related interactive lectures and discussions, public masterclasses with world-renowned performing artists, and free public programming. Learn more at www.5bmf.org.