The sunny and rhythmic music of Brazil will warm the hearts of New Yorkers this December when Brazilian superstar Ivan Lins and colleagues join with the Paul Winter Consort in the 34th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration, Dec. 19 through 21, at New York's Cathedral of St John the Divine, the world's largest cathedral.
Now in its 34th year, the Winter Solstice Celebration has become New York's favorite holiday alternative to the Nutcracker and Radio City's Christmas Spectacular. This event is a contemporary take on ancient solstice rituals, when people felt a calling to come together on the longest night of the year to welcome the return of the sun and the birth of the New Year. Non-denominational and open to all, this secular celebration shares the Cathedral's universal mission of being a "unifying center" and takes full advantage of the extraordinary acoustic qualities of the Cathedral.
CONCERT DETAILS:
Venue: The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Address: 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025 (at 112TH Street near Columbia University)
Dates & Times: Thursday, December 19, 2013, 8:00pm; Friday, December 20, 2013, 8:00pm; Saturday, December 21, 2013, 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Web:
www.SolsticeConcert.com or
www.paulwinter.com/winter-solstice
Phone: 866-811-4111
Ticket price: $35.00 & $55.00 (General Admission); $90.00 (Reserved Seating)
PAUL WINTER, the renowned Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer and bandleader - long known for his pioneering work with world music, jazz and the voices of the natural world - returns with this latest offering in his long tradition of solstice celebrations at the Cathedral. The music of Brazil will be a special focus of this year's event, and feature legendary Brazilian singer Ivan Lins, singer/guitarist Renato Braz, a Brazilian chorus, and the 25 dancers and drummers of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre. The ten-member Paul Winter Consort will also include dynamic gospel singer
Theresa Thomason.
Guest artist IVAN LINS is one of Brazil's most beloved musical superstars, and its best-known living songwriter. He has recorded more than 35 albums and won multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. His songs have been recorded by many notable
International Artists, including
Ella Fitzgerald,
Barbra Streisand,
Sarah Vaughan, Michael Bublé,
George Benson, Take 6, and Dave Grusin.
Paul Winter has felt a kinship with Lins since he put English words to his song "Velho Sermão" in 1977 for the title song of the Paul Winter Consort's album Common Ground. But this will be the first time that Winter and Lins perform together.
This year's Winter Solstice Celebration will be dedicated to the Consort's longtime colleague, Brazilian guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, who passed away in September.
Winter and the Consort wanted to find the most universal milestone of the year and celebrate it. The solstice was a groundbreaking choice: It has long vibrated with expectancy and fire, and can counteract the hype and commerce that characterize the December holidays. Celebrating solstice was a way to have ritual, but without the bounds of organized faith. They created an annual event that made full use of the Cathedral, its unique and mysterious feel, seven-second reverberation, and even its world-class pipe organ.
Photo Credit: Clifford A. Sobel
