The New School's Mannes School of Music to Celebrate Centennial at Carnegie Hall

The New School's Mannes School of Music will celebrate its centennial with a concert at Carnegie Hall honoring the school's rich history on Tuesday, April 25 from 7 to 10 p.m.

The concert will feature performances by esteemed alumni, past and present faculty, and students, including Michel Camilo, Simone Dinnerstein, Frederica von Stade, Ricky Ian Gordon, the Orion String Quartet, and the Mannes Orchestra conducted by David Hayes and Joseph Colaneri, with the New York Choral Society and the Mannes Prep Chorus.

The program will include Michel Camilo performing the Allegro from his Piano Concerto No. 1, Ricky Ian Gordon and Frederica von Stade performing selections from Gordon's opera A Coffin in Egypt, Simone Dinnerstein performing selections from Mozart's Piano Concerto, K. 467 with the Mannes Orchestra, and the Orion String Quartet performing Allegro moderato from Schulhoff's Concerto for String Quartet and Winds. Also included will be selections from Verdi's Rigoletto and the finale of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, with Jennifer Zetlan, Theo Lebow and Maya Lahyani. Burt Bacharach will be a special honoree for the evening.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Michel Camilo is a pianist with a brilliant technique and a composer who flavors his tunes with Caribbean rhythms and jazz harmonies. His composition Why Not! titled an album by Paquito D'Rivera, and the Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award (1983) with its vocal version of the piece. Mr. Camilo titled his own debut album Why Not! And followed it with Suntan/Michel Camilo In Trio. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985 with his trio and toured Europe that same year. He is a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory, and at the age of 16 became a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic (NSODR). He moved to New York in 1979, where he studied at Mannes School of Music and at The Juilliard School.

Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The New York-based pianist gained an international following with the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which she independently raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker. Dinnerstein's performance schedule has taken her around the world since her acclaimed New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2005, to venues including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Sydney Opera House, Seoul Arts Center, and London's Wigmore Hall; and performances with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra a Sinfonica Brasileira, and the Tokyo Symphony, among many others. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she was a student of Peter Serkin. She also studied with Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music and in London with Maria Curcio. She is on the faculty at Mannes School of Music and is a Sony Classical artist.

Frederica von Stade is recognized as one of the most beloved musical figures of our time, and has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. The mezzo-soprano is well known to audiences around the world through her numerous featured appearances on television including several PBS specials and "Live from Lincoln Center" telecasts. She has made over sixty recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy's Premio della Critica Discografica, and "Best of the Year" citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. Miss von Stade was awarded France's highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts. She is a graduate of Mannes School of Music.

Ricky Ian Gordon is a leading writer of vocal music that spans art song, opera, and musical theater. His songs have been performed and/or recorded by such internationally renowned singers as Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Nathan Gunn, Judy Collins, Kelli O'Hara, Audra MacDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Nicole Cabell, the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Frederica von Stade, Andrea Marcovicci, Harolyn Blackwell, and Betty Buckley, among many others. Gordon has taught both master classes and composition classes in colleges and universities throughout the country including Yale, NYU, Northwestern, Juilliard, and Manhattan School of Music, among many others. He has been honored with an OBIE Award, the 2003 Alumni Merit Award for exceptional achievement and leadership from Carnegie-Mellon University, A Shen Family Foundation Award, the Stephen Sondheim Award, The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award, The Constance Klinsky Award, and many awards from ASCAP, of which he is a member, The National Endowment of the Arts, and The American Music Center. He attendEd Mannes Prep in his youth.

The Orion String Quartet has been consistently praised for the extraordinary musical integrity it brings to performances, offering diverse programs that juxtapose classic works of the standard quartet literature with masterworks by twentieth and twenty-first century composers. The Quartet remains on the cutting edge of programming with wide-ranging commissions from composers Chick Corea, Brett Dean, David Del Tredici, Alexander Goehr, Thierry Lancino, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Lowell liebermann, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and enjoys a creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The members of the Orion String Quartet-violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy-have worked closely with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Sir András Schiff, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Peter Serkin, members of TASHI and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Budapest, Végh, Galimir and Guarneri String Quartets. The Orions serve as Artist Members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Quartet-in-Residence at Mannes School of Music, where they are featured in a four-concert series each year.

Jennifer Zetlan is a soprano who continues to garner recognition for her artistry and captivating stage presence. She has debuted on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Florida Grand Opera. On the concert stage she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, The Juilliard Orchestra and has been heard at Carnegie Hall in recital and with Oratorio Society of New York, Musica Sacra, and the New York Youth Symphony. This season, Zetlan continues her Broadway tenure in Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theater. She also makes her debut with the Staatstheater Stuttgart in Purcell's The Fairy Queen, and creates the title role in the world premiere of Jane Eyre by Louis Karchin with Center for Contemporary Opera. On the concert stage, she performs Kaija Saariaho's Lonh with the New York Philharmonic at the Park Avenue Armory, and sings the soprano solos in Bruckner's Te Deum and Mozart's Mass in C minor with Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. She is a graduate of Mannes School of Music.

Theo Lebow is a tenor who recently created the roles of Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald in the World Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera 27 with Opera Theater of St. Louis, in a cast headed by Stephanie Blythe and Elizabeth Futral. This past summer he sang Jacquino in Fidelio with the Shippensburg Music Festival, then appeared at the Berkshire Choral Festival singing Dvorak's Stabat Mater and at the Bard Music Festival's Schubert, His World. In the past few seasons, Mr. Lebow has participated in some of the nation's pre-eminent Young Artist Programs, including those of the Seattle Opera, the San Francisco Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. He is a graduate of Mannes School of Music.

Maya Lahyani is a mezzo-soprano who has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera in numerous roles, including Omar in John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer under the baton of David Robertson, Flora in La Traviata, Rosette in Laurent Pelly's production of Manon conducted by Fabio Luisi, Kate Pinkerton in Anthony Minghella's production of Madama Butterfly, Käthchen in Werther, Third Sprite in Rusalka, Altichiara in Francesca da Rimini, and Fiona in the Met premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys. She is the first Israeli-born singer to sing on the Met stage. In the 2016-2017 season, Lahyani returns to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Flora in Willy Decker's production of La Traviata and to Seattle Opera, where she will appear as Varvara in a new production of Janá?ek's Katya Kabanova, as well as Flora in Peter Konwitschny's production of La Traviata. Concert appearances include Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" with the Charlotte Symphony. Lahyani will also be the featured vocal soloist in a world premiere performance by the Alonzo King LINES Ballet. She is a graduate of Mannes School of Music.

Mannes School of Music is an iconic music conservatory, internationally recognized for its musical and pedagogical excellence while being deeply committed to developing citizen artists who make the world a better place. Today, Mannes is developing a new reputation as one of the most progressive schools of its kind, thanks to the rapid evolution of its overall curriculum to address the demands of what musicians need to know, understand, and be able to do in the 21st century.

Founded in 1916 by America's first great violin recitalist and noted educator, David Mannes, Mannes School of Music's distinguished alumni include the 20th century song writing legend Burt Bacharach; the great pianists Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, and Bill Evans; acclaimed conductors Semyon Bychkov, Myung Whun Chung, JoAnn Falletta, and Julius Rudel; music theorist and educator Carl Schachter; path-breaking jazz fusion guitarist Larry Coryell; beloved mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade as well as the newest opera stars of today, YongHoon Lee, Danielle de Niese, and Nadine Sierra; and Pulitzer Prize winning arts journalist, Tim Page.

Along with The New School's Jazz and Drama schools, Mannes is now a part of The College of Performing Arts at The New School. With each school contributing its unique culture of excellence, the College of Performing Arts creates opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, innovative education, and world-class performances. As part of this initiative, Mannes has moved into the newly renovated Arnhold Hall in Greenwich Village, a state-of-the-art facility designed especially for the performing arts. Conservatory students experience a supportive and rigorous environment with enhanced opportunities to collaborate with other students at The New School, including those at Parsons School of Design. In its new location, Mannes will uphold its long-standing tradition of providing access to free and affordable performances for the public.

Founded in 1919, The New School was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence. Learn more at www.newschool.edu.