Lara Downes and Ulysses Quartet Announced as Part of GatherNYC

The revolutionary Sunday morning concert series GatherNYC celebrates its 50th concert in a span of just two years with an appearance by pianist and innovator Lara Downes on Sunday, March 15, and continues the following week with Ulysses Quartet on March 22. GatherNYC's ambitious programming features world-class performers, community building and spiritual nourishment. This concert also marks the kickoff of its spring season, to continue weekly on Sunday mornings through May 31.

LARA DOWNES (3/15)

For her GatherNYC debut, Lara Downes will present an exclusive preview of her newest project, SOME OF THESE DAYS. Downes describes the project as "a musical reflection on social justice, freedom and equality, expressed through songs that are at the roots of our American story. This multi-genre collection of freedom songs and Spirituals celebrates the resistance and persistence that have always been at the core of American identity, mining the layers of our past to reveal an urgent relevance to our present and our future." The full-length album will be released on April 3 and finds Lara revisiting songs such as "Down By The Riverside," "We Shall Overcome" and "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child," Civil Rights anthem "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" and the works of trailblazing composers Margaret Bonds and Florence Price. Listen to Lara's recording of "Steal Away" featuring Toshi Reagon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poJR6Tt-z2Y

Described by The Piano Magazine as a "trailblazing pianist who combines exquisite musicality with an acute awareness of how an artist can make a positive and lasting social impact", Lara Downes is a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist who has worked with some of the most prominent musicians in the world including Yo-Yo Ma and Judy Collins.

ULYSSES QUARTET (3/22)

The Ulysses String Quartet has been praised for its "textural versatility," "grave beauty," "the kind of chemistry many quartets long for, but rarely achieve" (The Strad). Founded in 2015, the group won first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition and the grand prize and gold medal in the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Ulysses also finished first in the American Prize and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. Most recently the quartet won the grand prize of the 2019 Vietnam International Music Competition.

Consisting of Christina Bouey and Rhiannon Banerdt on violin, Colin Brookes on viola and Grace Ho on cello, the Ulysses Quartet are Lisa Arnhold Fellows of the Juilliard School.

At GatherNYC on March 15 and each week thereafter, guests will be served exquisite live classical music, artisanal coffee and pastries, storytelling by winners of the Moth StorySLAM, and a brief celebration of silence. Taking place in the modern underground theatre SubCulture, the one-hour experience provides a communal weekly respite from the noise of the city.

The series founders and co-artistic directors are cellist Laura Metcalf and her husband, guitarist Rupert Boyd. They also comprise the international touring duo Boyd Meets Girl, whose 2017 debut album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart.

Tickets are available through http://subculturenewyork.com/gathernyc/

For more information, visit: www.gathernyc.org