Judy Collins Performs 'Wildflowers' With Harlem Chamber Players Under Tania León at the Town Hall Next Month

On Saturday, February 25 (8 pm), The Town Hall continues its 2022/23 concert series spotlighting women composers who have shaped American culture with "the wild ageless angel of pop" (New York Times) Judy Collins, who will perform all of the songs in her magical 1967 album, Wildflowers, in concert with the Harlem Chamber Players, conducted by Tania León. Tickets start at $82.35, available at thetownhall.org.

In 1964, a star in the world of folk music, Collins made her concert hall debut at Town Hall. But by the mid-1960s, having studied classical piano as a teenager with Antonia Brico (who led an all-female orchestra at Town Hall in 1935), she knew she wanted to make an album that would take her listeners into a new and meaningful musical territory. She once said, "Jacques Brel began as a troubadour with a guitar and nothing else, but I saw him work as early as 1968 in New York with a full orchestra. And I said to myself, that's where I'm moving." The result - her sixth studio recording with boldly sensitive orchestral arrangements by Joshua Rifkin and produced by Mark Abramson - was Wildflowers.

In Wildflowers, with encouragement from Leonard Cohen, Collins first revealed herself as a songwriter in her own right. Three original songs - Since You Asked, Skyfell, and Albatross - established her as a major pop composer. Those compositions, plus additional ones by Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jacques Brel, and medieval composer Francesco Landini, helped to make it her highest charting album to date. The record is highlighted by Collins' stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, which has entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In the 1960s, Judy Collins evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 60-album body of work, enjoy her podcast, Since You Asked, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.

Collins' 55th album, Spellbound, released in February 2022, finds her enjoying an artistic renaissance. The 13-song recording is a special entry in her oeuvre, marking the first time she has ever written all the songs on one of her albums. It features twelve new compositions, and a bonus track of her evergreen song The Blizzard. Spellbound is a retrospective of her most formative moments - some big and public, and some intensely personal and intimate. Spellbound has been nominated in the Best Folk Album category at the 65th Recording Academy Grammy Awards in 2023.

Said Melay Araya, Artistic Director of Town Hall, "We're so proud to continue our series on American women composers with the glorious Judy Collins. She has graced the stage of Town Hall on many occasions, thrilling listeners with her stunning voice and expansive, embracing repertory. Furthermore, her work for personal and social change inspires us all."

The award-winning singer-songwriter Judy Collins is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Judy's dreamy and sweetly intimate version of Send in the Clowns, a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, won "Song of the Year" at the 1975 Grammy Awards. With her canon of sixty albums, she's garnered several top-ten hits, plus gold- and platinum-selling albums.

In 1961, she released her masterful debut, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, which featured interpretative works of social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. This began a wonderfully fertile thirty-five-year creative relationship with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records. Around this time Judy became a tastemaker within the thriving Greenwich Village folk community and brought other singer-songwriters to a wider audience, including poet/musician Leonard Cohen and fellow singer/songwriters Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to the present, she has remained a vital artist, enriching her catalog with critically acclaimed albums while balancing a robust touring schedule.

Judy has also authored several books, including Sanity & Grace, and her memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music, and Cravings.

In addition, she remains a social activist, representing UNICEF and numerous other causes. She is the director (along with Jill Godmillow) of an Academy Award-nominated film about her piano teacher Antonia Brico - PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world.

Judy Collins is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. She is a modern-day Renaissance woman who is a filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights the world and speaks to the heart.

Tania León who was born in Havana, Cuba, is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator and advisor to arts organizations. In November 2022 she conducted the New York premiere of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed's chamber opera, Hometown to the World, at Town Hall. Her orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In December 2022, she was awarded a Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements.

Recent premieres include works for Los Angeles Philharmonic, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Grossman Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Jennifer Koh's project, Alone Together. Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, among others.

Upcoming commissions feature works for the League of American Orchestras, The Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia to celebrate their 200th anniversary, and Claire Chase, flute, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove.

The Harlem Chamber Players is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high-caliber, affordable and accessible live classical music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. In addition, The Harlem Chamber Players builds diverse audiences for classical music in general through community and educational outreach, as well as through collaborations with Harlem's other arts organizations, schools and cultural institutions, while creating opportunities for classically trained musicians of color.