Salon/Sanctuary Concerts to Open 5th Season with THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS, 9/19 & 21

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with the return of "THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS".

From the House of Atreus to the Palace of Nero
Greek myth and Roman history refracted through the prism of the baroque-a depraved brew of hubris, blood-lust and vengeance.

Featuring:

JESSICA GOULD, soprano
JOSÉ LEMOS, countertenor
JORY VINIKOUR, harpsichord
Members of the SEBASTIANS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Guest Actors, including Ethan Peck as Orestes
Stage Direction by Erica Gould

The concerts are set for Thursday, September 19, 2013 and Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 8:00pm at THE BROAD STREET BALLROOM, a former bank designed to replicate a Roman villa, 41 Broad Street, NYC. Tickets: $25-$100 can be purchased on the Salon/Sanctuary website www.salonsanctuary.org or by calling Showclix at 1 888/718-4253.

For complete season information, go to www.salonsanctuary.org.

Having rapidly established itself as one of New York's most sought after destinations for early music and innovative programming, the often-imitated but never replicatedSALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season on September 19 and 21with an expanded run of its critically acclaimed original interdisciplinary project, The Heirs of Tantalus: From the House of Atreus to the Palace of Nero.

The vocal soloists include soprano Jessica Gould and countertenor José Lemos, and members of The Sebastians under the direction of Grammy-nominated harpsichordistJory Vinikour. Script and stage direction are by Erica Gould, with guest actors featuring Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory Peck) in the role of Orestes.

Greek myth and Roman history refracted through the prism of the baroque, The Heirs of Tantalus weaves words of the Greek tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides, biting commentary of the Roman historian Suetonius, and music of Monteverdi, Scarlattiand Handel into a depraved tapestry of hubris, blood-lust, and vengeance, intertwining mythic characters of Greek tragedy with notorious historical figures of the depraved court of Nero, whose actual crimes dwarf anything the Greek imagination could conjure.

With music from the operas L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) and Agrippina(Handel), and the cantatas Io Son Nerone (Scarlatti) and Agrippina Condotta a Morire (Handel), three actors and two singers take on multiple roles within the magnificent interior of the Broad Street Ballroom. This former bank, exquisitely designed to replicate a Roman villa, sets the perfect stage for this site-specific event.

Ethan Gregory Peck was born in Los Angeles on March 2, 1986 and began acting at the age of 9. In his first TV film role, he appeared on Marshal Law, and from 2009 to 2010 Peck starred as Patrick Verona on Ten Things I Hate About You, the ABC Family TV series based on the 1999 film. He has since guest starred on Gossip Girl, and in 2012, played Prince Maxon for the pilot adaptation of the popular book series The Selection.

In 2008, he made his feature film debut in Aaron Woodley's Tennessee starring alongside Mariah Carey and Adam Rothenberg. The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and his performance earned him praise in a Tribeca review by Joel Keller at cinematical.com who stated, "Peck, in his first film role, is remarkable as Ellis." Tennessee was followed with a co-starring role opposite Peter Coyote and Bebe Neuwirth in the film Adopt a Sailor. For his portrayal of "Sailor," he received the Best Actor award at the 2009 Sonoma International Film Festival. He has since appeared in roles on The Sorcerer's Apprentice,Twelve, In Time, The Wine of Summer, Mine Games, and will soon be seen alongside Anne Heche, Clancy Brown and James Tupper in the October 4 release of the horror film,Nothing Left to Fear. He was recently on location in Malaysia co-starring with Nate Parker on the dramatic thriller Eden.

In high school Peck studied classical cello, and was a member of the advanced orchestra at Harvard Westlake. In his senior year he was accepted on early admission to the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, selected for drama studies in their ETW (Experimental Theater Wing) studio. There he received a wide range of training in voice, movement and acting while learning to create, perform and direct his own work. New York theatre credits includeThe Minotaur by Anna Ziegler with Jill Clayburgh, Mario Cantone, and Campbell Scott (The Fire Dept). After three years at Tisch he took a leave of absence to return to LA for his work on the series Ten Things I Hate About You.

Ethan Peck is also the grandson of the late great Hollywood icon, Gregory Peck, and all indications are he will not only continue that legacy, but is on his way to creating one of his own.

Jory Vinikour is recognized as one of the outstanding harpsichordists of his generation. Born in Chicago, he came to Paris on a Fulbright scholarship to study with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert. First Prizes in the International Harpsichord Competitions of Warsaw (1993) and the Prague Spring Festival (1994) brought him to the public's attention, and he has since appeared in festivals and concert series, and as soloist with major orchestras, throughout much of the world. He has recently appeared as conductor with the Juilliard415 Baroque orchestra at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has collaborated with many major artists, notably Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. His solo recordings have been widely praised in the international press. His recording of the complete works of Jean-Philippe Rameau (Sono Luminus, 2012) has been nominated for a Grammy in the field of Best Classical Solo Intrumental Recording.

José Lemos was awarded both a 2003 and 2004 Tanglewood Music Fellowship where he made his USA operatic debut in Zuidam's Rage D'Amours and in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon. The following season he made his European debut at the Zürich Opernhaus as Nireno in Giulio Cesare in Egitto under the baton of Marc Minkowski. Appearances followed at the Aldeburgh Festival in England Purcell's Faerie Queen under the baton of Harry Bicket. Mr. Lemos is the First Prize Winner and the Audience Prize Winner of the 2003 International Baroque Singing Competition of Chimay, Belgium. He has performed many roles with Les Arts Florissants at Teatro Real in Madrid, Salle Pleyel in Paris, on tour across Europe, and on DVD with Virgin/EMI. He performed Narciso in Handel's Agrippina conducted by Marc Minkowski at Zürich, and Royal Festival Hall. He has also sung the roles of Ottone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Seattle Early Music Guild directed by Stephen Stubbs, and Tolomeo in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto conducted by Nicolas McGegan at the Göttingen Handel Festspiele in Germany. With the Boston Early Music Festival, Lemos portrayed Nerea in the 2011 production of Niobe, the Spirit in Purcell's Dido & Aeneas in 2010, and Silène in the 2007 production of Lully's Psyche which was released on the German label CPO and nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award. 2009 saw Mr. Lemos' debut as soloist at Carnegie Hall in in Mozart's Coronation Mass. In 2010 he made his debut at Avery Fisher Hall in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.

Soprano/SSC Artistic Director Jessica Gould has been noted for "a dramatic intensity that honored the texts" (The New York Times), for "expansive range, coloratura facility, and multi-hued, powerful sound" (Seen and Heard International), "astonishing ornaments and passaggi, executed to perfection" (Lute News, UK), and "crystalline sounds" and for having "reached the heart of an enrapturEd English audience" (Traditional Music Maker, UK). With Roger Rees and the Paul Dresher Ensemble she can be heard on the New World Records CD Tell the Birds, featuring music of Eve Beglarian. Chamber music performances include The Clarion Society, Sinfonia New York, The Four Nations Ensemble, The Virginia Arts Festival, The Guggenheim Works & Process Series with The Cassatt Quartet, and The Beinecke Library at Yale University, as well as guest soloist appearances with numerous ensembles. Presenters abroad include the Festival Martedì in Arte at the Palazzo Davanzati, the Museo di Arte Sacra in Tuscany, and the Library of the Museo di San Marco of Florence. Operatic performances include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Herz in The Impresario, the title role of Handel's Semele, and Poppea in Handel's Agrippina. As Founder and Artistic Director of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, she creates and is awarded grants for many original programs featuring repertoire from the 8th to 18th centuries, and serves as writer, music researcher, and translator.

Praised for their "well-thought-out articulation and phrasing" (Early Music Review) and "elegant string playing... immaculate in tuning and balance" (Early Music Today), the Sebastian Chamber Players (Sebastians) specialize in music of the Baroque and Classical eras and newly commissioned works for period instruments. They recently won the Audience Prize at the 2012 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition. They were also finalists in the 2011 York International Early Music Competition and the 2011 Early Music America/Naxos Recording Competition. For the tricentennial of the publication of Antonio Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico, the Sebastians commissioned composer Robert Honstein to write a companion suite, which they premiered alongside Vivaldi's work in December 2011. The suite receives its NY premiere on November 20, 2013 at Columbia University's Italian Academy. This past season they presented a series of thematic concerts as artists-in-residence at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Manchester, CT. They were recently named the residence ensemble at All Angels' Church in New York City. They have participated in the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop with L'Arpeggiata and performed at Music Matters at LaGrua Center in Stonington, CT, Friends of Music at Pequot Library in Southport, CT, Juilliard in Aiken in Aiken, SC., and in the Twelfth Night Festival and Concerts@One at Trinity Wall Street in NYC.

Erica Gould's directing credits include the world premieres of Neil LaBute's plays autobahnand Stand Up (w/ Mos Def), SpeakEasy (Joe's Pub/Public Theater), Max and the Truffle Pig (NYMF), The Minotaur by Anna Ziegler w/ Jill Clayburgh, Mario Cantone, Campbell Scott, & Ethan Peck (The Fire Dept), More Between Heaven and Earth w/ Matthew Modine, Melissa Errico, Kathleen Chalfant (Salon/Sanctuary), What Light From Darkness Grows w/ Phylicia Rashad and Harry Lennix (NPR--Gracie Allen Award), At War: American Playwrights Respond to Iraq by Rajiv Joseph, Jose Rivera, others w/ David Strathairn, Bebe Neuwirth, Daniel Sunjata, Gloria Reuben, and Bobby Cannavale (Bleecker Street Theater/The Fire Dept), and Dirty Paki Lingerie, which she developed with writer/solo performer Aizzah Fatima (productions in Toronto, Edinburgh, The Cherry Lane, 59E59, & currently at The Flea). Most recently, she directed and choreographed the fights for On Point: From Sword Fight to Pas de Deux, a new dance-theatre piece, developed in collaboration with the New York City Ballet's Jared Angle & Megan LeCrone, exploring the shared origins of Classical Ballet and Sword Fighting (Salon/Sanctuary). Erica has directed and fight-choreographed numerous productions of Shakespeare, and Jacobean and Restoration playwrights, including Troilus and Cressida (NY Stage & Film), The Rover(The New School), The Comedy of Errors (Hudson Guild), The Tempest (Fordham),Pericles (NJ Shakespeare), and As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre ACA). She serves on the Fight Steering Committee of the SDC, and was recently a featured speaker, along with Rick Sordelet, for the SDCF/American Theatre Wing Masters of the Stage panel on Physical Staging and Fight Direction (available as a podcast at americantheatrewing.org). Upcoming: Erica's site-specific production of John Gay's 18th century comic political masterpiece The Beggar's Opera in 2014. Teaching: Yale, NYU, Fordham, Pace, Bard, NY Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and the O'Neill National Theatre Institute.

Founded in 2009 by Artistic Director Jessica Gould as an alternative to the conventional concert hall, SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS offers the special chance to hear pre-Romantic music in intimate venues that complement the historical context of the repertoire. Pleased to present special projects that cast a light on history and various historical issues through the prism of music, Salon/Sanctuary develops and presents many unique interdisciplinary projects featuring luminaries from the worlds of opera, theater, film, and dance.

Recent events include its critically praised fourth season opening event, which featured Metropolitan Opera countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, NYCB Principal Dancer Jared Angle, and Met harpsichordist and assistant conductor Bradley Brookshire; and the December 2011 performance of More Between Heaven and Earth, a site-specific interdisciplinary performance based on the letters of Thomas Jefferson and Maria Cosway, starring internationally acclaimed film actor Matthew Modine and TONY-Award nominated actresses Melissa Errico and Kathleen Chalfant.

37-41 Broad Street was constructed in 1928-29 as the Headquarters of the Lee-Higginson Bank and is recognized today as "the most impressible building on Broad Street." The building embodies characteristics of the austere late 1920's Classical Revival style office building. It is notable for its handsome and well-designed facade. It was designed by architects Cross and Cross Architects, who were for their major office buildings. Two noted artists, Leo Friedlander (sculpture) and Griffith Baily Coale (mural), contributed works that add to the significance of the building.

37-41 Broad Street is located on the east side of Broad Street between Exchange Place and Beaver Street, one block south of the New York Stock Exchange. It is located at a gentle bend in the road; its facade is slightly curved to follow the bend. It is a nine story building with a tenth story penthouse that is set back from the facade. The facade is largely intact including banking doors, bronze windows and architectural detailing. 37-41 Broad Street exhibits the characteristics of the Classical Revival style; it is symmetrically organized with classically derived details that are stately and proper (non-whimsical) in composition.

In 2003 the space was taken over by MetSchools, Inc, a private education company with plans to use the entire 120,000 square foot space for creating the first ever Pre K-8 private school below Canal Street. After a two year renovation and restoration, the building has been brought back to its former glory, specifically in the banking hall (now known as the Broad Street Ballroom), where previous highlights such as thick bronze doors and breathtaking pillars were complimented with new features including a 200-light, Broadway-quality A/V production system, and restored porcelain-tile floors.

Pictured: The Sebastians, Jory Vinikour, Jessica Gould, and José Lemos