JCC Manhattan to Present PREformances with Allison Charney, 10/20

JCC Manhattan launches the sixth season of PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, October 20th at 12:30pm.

This unique concert series offers audiences rare opportunities to hear celebrated classical musicians before they perform on the world's most prestigious stages, providing a coveted space for engagement and rehearsal whilst dissolving traditional barriers between performer and audience. The opening concert will feature operatic arias in preparation for upcoming performances by countertenor Jeffrey Mandelbaum and soprano Allison Charney from Handel's Giulio Cesare, Verdi's Don Carlo, Wagner's Tannhauser and Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, all accompanied by pianist, Craig Ketter. In addition, the duo of violist Louise Schulman and guitarist Bill Zito will perform Minyan, a new piece composed for them by the late Arnold Rosner that they will be performing at Merkin Hall just two weeks after this concert as well as a movement from

Funds raised through patron support of the PREformances program will support both The Basser Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania and special programs at The JCC in Manhattan that promote early detection of cancer and care for those living with breast and ovarian cancer. Donations can be made here.

Season Overview for Fall 2014:

Monday, October 20 12:30pm
Monday, November 17 12:30pm
Monday, December 15 7:30pm

About JCC Manhattan - Located on 76th Street and Amsterdam, JCC Manhattan is a vibrant non-profit community center on the Upper West Side. The cornerstone of progressive programming in Manhattan, the JCC serves over 55,000 people annually through 1,200 programs each season that educate, inspire, and transform participants' minds, bodies, and spirits. Since its inception, the JCC has been committed to serving the community by offering programs and services that reach beyond neighborhood boundaries. Programs at the JCC reach people at all stages of their lives, and serve the entire family and community.

The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan - The Samuel Priest Rose Building - is located at 334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street, NY. Call (646) 505-5708. Subway: 1/2/3 to 72nd St.; Bus: M7 or M11 to West 75th Street. Admission: $15; $10 Members; $5 for Ages 62+ http://www.jccmanhattan.org/preformances.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Sonatina that they are scheduled to record later this year. Each PREformances closes with Ms. Charney's emotional interpretation of Strauss' anthem, "Zueignung."

About PREformances with Allison Charney - Opera singer Allison Charney lost her cell phone in a cab. The JCC of Manhattan Executive Director Rabbi Joy Levitt found it. Upon their meeting, a brand new model for a concert series, PREformances with Allison Charney, was born.

PREformances with Allison Charney is truly unique in the vast landscape of NYC musical offerings, as it affords professional classical musicians of the highest caliber* an opportunity to try out something they are preparing to perform somewhere big, in front of an audience who understands that they are seeing a not-quite- finished product. The performers benefit from the slightly pumped up pressure that any public performance brings, without any worry of a possible review, along with an extra chance to hone their performances in this day of massive budget cuts in the arts which severely limits opportunities for ample rehearsal time. Simultaneously, the audience benefits from an up-close-and-personal, barrier-breaking opportunity to get inside the head of a top-notch performer...see what they think about, what their challenges may be, all while hearing the best classical concerts in New York City.

PREformances with Allison Charney maintains its highly accessible concerts with extremely low single ticket prices. However, about to enter its sixth season, PREformances with Allison Charney will also continue its vastly successful and profoundly impactful charitable relationship with the Basser Research Center through its fundraising arm: Friends of PREformances.

Inspired by the incredible philanthropy of Mindy and Jon Gray, whose 25 million dollar gift launched the Basser Center at the University of Pennsylvania, PREformances with Allison Charney will be able to help promote awareness and education at the JCC about breast and ovarian cancers, which coincidentally impact women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, thousands of whom walk through the doors of the JCC annually, at a rate of 1 in 44, or 10 times that of the normal population. All gifts starting at $100 include a season subscription for two to PREformances with Allison Charney with many more perks available at higher levels of patronage, including tickets to exclusive concerts in Manhattan's finest private homes.

Begun in the most ordinary circumstances, PREformances with Allison Charney is now blossoming into a most extraordinary program - one that not only creates beautiful music but could also save lives of countless women at risk.

*A sampling of recent PREformances with Allison Charney performers

Alan Gilbert, Music Director, New York Philharmonic

William Burden, tenor, Metropolitan Opera

David Cerutti, principal violist, Orchestra of St. Luke's

Joel Fan, world-renowned pianist and frequent collaborator with Yo-Yo Ma

Navah Perlman, esteemed pianist

Kajsa William-Olsson, principal cellist, Royal Philarmonic Orchestra - Stockholm

Carol Wincenc, Grammy winning flutist

Maria Zifchak, mezzo-soprano, Metropolitan Opera

Allison Charney, Soprano - Soprano Allison Charney's operatic career began in earnest following the national finals of the Metropolitan Opera Competition with her debut at the New York City Opera as Musetta in LA BOHE?ME. She went on to sing most of Puccini's leading soprano roles in opera companies throughout the country, including the title roles in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, TOSCA and SUOR ANGELICA, Mimi in LA BOHE?ME and Liu? in TURANDOT, earning a reputation for her "vocal agility, lush sound and dramatic portrayals" of the lirico-spinto roles in her wide ranging repertoire. Ms. Charney has experienced enormous success with her Mozart interpretations as well, including both Susanna and the Countess in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLO?TE and Sandrina in the rarely-heard LA FINTA GIARDINIERA. She wowed both audience and critics all over the United States with her tour-de-force portrayals of all three heroines in Offenbach's TALES OF HOFFMANN. Her versatility has also led her to sing roles as varied as Rosalinde in DIE FLEDERMAUS, Micae?la in CARMEN, Nedda in PAGLIACCI, Santuzza in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA and the title roles in MARTHA, LA TRAVIATA, JENUFA and THE MERRY WIDOW. Ms. Charney's career has brought her to opera companies across the United States, including the New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Memphis, Annapolis Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, New Rochelle Opera, Opera Illinois, OperaDelaware, Utah Festival Opera, DiCapo OperaTheater, Tampa Opera, Opera Idaho, Syracuse Opera, Washington Summer Opera Festival, Colorado Opera Festival and Mississippi Opera. Concert highlights have included performances at Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and as a featured soloist with the esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Charney sang her first performance of Samuel Barber's KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 along with the world premiere of Kim D. Sherman's newly-orchestrated, INVOCATION, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, and returns to the Riverdale Sinfonietta in December of 2014, after her successful turn in Kurt Weill's MAHAGONNY to sing in a concert of Bach cantatas. Continuing her commitment to performing music of our times, Ms. Charney premiered Moshe Knoll's PSALM 133 with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, in a concert that also featured Kim D. Sherman's oratorio (composed for Ms. Charney) SONGBIRD AND THE EAGLE in the spring of 2014, after which she performed in the Rite of Summer Music Festival on Governors Island and made her debut with the Boston Pops under the baton of Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Charney is featured in the newly-released, first recording of the Pulitzer Prize nominated oratorio CHOOSE LIFE, by composer Mona Lyn Reese and can be heard in a CD of American songs with pianist, Benjamin Loeb, on the DSC Label. Ms. Charney is an active recitalist and master teacher and is the founder and curator of the concert series, PREformances with Allison Charney housed at the JCC Manhattan. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude with highest honors, in Special Concentrations from Harvard University, she went on to earn two graduate degrees in music from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Charney now lives in New York City with her husband, Adam Epstein and their two sons, Evan and Oliver.

Jeffrey Mandelbaum, Countertenor - Jeffrey Mandelbaum made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in The Enchanted Island singing the role of Ferdinand in a series of performances alongside Joyce DiDonato and Pla?cido Domingo, under the baton of William Christie. He has been hailed as a "first- class countertenor" by the Washington Post, and is fast becoming known for his powerful, elegant voice, and dynamic stage presence. He returned to the MET for Ades' The Tempest, starring Simon Keenlyside and Isabel Leonard, and for the revival of The Enchanted Island. He made a double Alice Tully Hall debut, singing Bach's Magnificat with the American Classical Orchestra, as well as Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Riverside Choral Society, and returned with ACO last season. He was also soloist in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Missa Brevis with Amor Artis, Bach's St. John Passion with the Canterbury Choral Society, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Canticum Novum Singers.

Regarding his debut at Virginia Opera in Agrippina, Tim Smith states in Opera News, "Jeffrey Mandelbaum, with a sweet sound, was highly satisfying... [and] brought considerable flair to his singing and characterization." He was engaged by New York City Opera for Flavio, Ulisse, and Hansel and Gretel, and performed Giulio Cesare in two productions with Opera Theater of Connecticut, singing Tolomeo, as well as with One World Symphony, in the title role. He triumphed as Farnace in the New York premiere of Mitridate with Little Opera Theater of New York. Allan Kozinn states in the New York Times, "Jeffrey Mandelbaum gave an appealingly sensitive portrayal of Ottone," in Opera Omnia's Poppea. He reprised Ottone with Dell'Arte Opera, earning further praise in the Times and other media.

A sought after concert performer, he has sung with Orchestra of Saint Luke's, Westchester Oratorio Society, Norwalk Symphony, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Connecticut Master Chorale, Allentown Symphony, Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut, Vermont Mozart Festival, and others. He is in demand as a soloist for the oratorios of Handel and the choral works of Bach, and has made calling cards of the "tenor" solo in Orff's Carmina Burana and the "boy" solo in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.

In addition to performing baroque repertoire, he is also an experienced interpreter of contemporary opera, including DeChiera's Cyrano De Bergerac with Opera Pacific; Monk's Quarry with Spoleto Festival USA, Glass's Galileo Galilei at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hause's Man: Biology Of A Fall at Kumble Theater [NYC], and two productions of Quincey's Home And The River with Encompass New Opera Theatre, with whom he also premiered Quincey's Tale Of A Tell-Tale Heart, the leading role of which was written specifically for him.

Mr. Mandelbaum is a winner of the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, New York Districts, and has sung numerous recitals in venues throughout NYC and Tuscany. He received a B.A. with Honors in Interdisciplinary Performance from Oberlin College, and a Master of Music degree in Historical Performance- Voice from the Mannes College of Music. He coached in baroque style with Drew Minter and Julianne Baird, and studies vocal technique and artistry with Linda Monssen.

Craig Ketter, Pianist - Critically acclaimed for "transporting the listeners to extraordinary heights," American Craig Ketter has distinguished himself as a leading pianist of his generation. Mr. Ketter has performed as soloist to Mexico, Argentina, France, Germany, Japan, and across the United States and Canada. Complementing his solo performances with collaborative ventures, Mr. Ketter can be heard in venues including NPR's Performance Today series, CBS Sunday Morning, Sirius Satellite Radio, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, La Huaca, Atlapa in Panama City, the Savannah Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine, "Music in the Mountains" in Colorado, and The Marilyn Horne Foundation. He has collaborated with flutist Eugenia Zukerman, clarinetists Stephen Williamson, Ricardo Morales and Jon Manasse, cellists Robert deMaine and Eric Bartlett, violinists Kelly Hall-Tompkins and Roy Malan, and singers Deborah Voigt, Margaret Jane Wray, Cynthia Lawrence, Samuel Ramey, Paul Plishka, and Ben Heppner, to name a few. He has also performed with the esteemed actress Claire Bloom. Mr. Ketter has been a faculty member of the Rocky Ridge Music Festival in Colorado and has served as Chair of the Piano Faculty at the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas. He is a regular guest artist at the Raleigh Conservatory of Music and recently joined the faculty of New Jersey City University and is the official collaborative pianist for PREformances with Allison Charney. Mr. Ketter currently resides in the New York area with his wife, Canadian soprano Valerie Gonzalez, and his two sons, Isaac and Daniel.

Louise Schulman, Violist - Since 1970 violist Louise Schulman has been widely recognized as one of New York's most dedicated, versatile and gifted instrumentalists. She is a founding member [1974] and principal viola of the St. Lukes Chamber Ensemble and Orchestra of St. Lukes, performing in virtually all of the group's acclaimed concerts and recordings.

Ms. Schulman also has a major affinity for early music, performing on a variety of stringed instruments including baroque viola and violin, vielle, cittern, viola d'amore and viols. Some of the groups she has performed and recorded with include the Waverly Consort, Philomel, Long Island Baroque Ensemble, Folger Consort, Breve, Clarion Concerts, New England Bach Festival, Ensemble for Early Music, the Alba

Consort and Bacchinalia. Her solo recordings of Telemann and Vivaldi concerti [Music Masters and Essay labels] have won much praise from critics.

In the field of contemporary music Ms. Schulman has also made her mark. Since 1975 she has been on the performing and coaching staff of the Composers Conference, performing and recording numerous chamber works of gifted young composers, and is now the staff representative on the conference board of directors. Her recording of "Interviews" for viola and piano by Eleanor Cory is on CRI records.

Ms. Schulman gives frequent duo recitals with guitarist Bill Zito. Their CD, "An Italian in Vienna," Duos by Mauro Giuliani [1781-1829] has been released world-wide on the Dorian Sono Luminus label. Ms. Schulman also gives frequent solo recitals with piano, and concerto appearances. She also performs with the Strathmere Ensemble and Armstrong Chamber Concerts.

Her viola is by Zanetto da Montechiaro, ca. 1530.

Bill Zito, Guitarist - Bill Zito, a native New Yorker, comes from an eclectic musical background. After his teen years as a rock musician he studied early music with Rodrigo deZayas, classical guitar with Rey de la Torre and Stan Solow, and composition with Julian Orbon.

His formal debut came in 1974 with appearances at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Recital Hall, to critical acclaim. Soon after he was chosen by Hi Fidelity Magazine as a Young Artist of the Year.

Described as "first rate throughout" by the New York Times, Mr. Zito has received praise for both his solo and ensemble work. He has toured extensively in the US and Europe. This versatile performer is equally at home on such historical plucked instruments as Renaissance lute, vihuela, archlute, mandolin, and baroque guitar, at times performing back to back on as many as three different instruments.

Mr. Zito is no stranger to working with voice. He has performed with Andreas Scholl, David Daniels and Grayson Hirst to name a few. At the Peter Pears memorial concert in New York City, Mr. Zito performed music of Britten and Dowland, and was praised by the NY Times for both his solos and vocal accompaniments. "Exemplary...One admired his easy assurance with this music, the runs and flourishes dispached with fluent virtuosity."

Along with his solo work and his duo with Ms. Schulman, Mr. Zito has premiered many new works and has performed opera, dance scores and music for the stage. He is currently a member of the Strathmere Ensemble and the Long Island Baroque Ensemble, and frequently appears in duo recitals with harpsichordist Gerald Ranck. He has performed with the Da Capo Chamber Players with whom he recently recorded "Dream Tigers" by Judith Shatin.

Mr. Zito is currently on the guitar faculty of Adelphi Unversity, Hofstra Unversity, Queens College and Nassau Community College.

His guitars are by Hermann Hauser I [1950] and Antonio Marin [2009]. Mr. Zito uses La Bella strings.

Photo Credit: Mark Rosenberg