The Western Wind Vocal Sextet to Perform at Merkin Hall, 3/12

The Western Wind, the internationally acclaimed vocal sextet devoted to a capella music, celebrates its 47th anniversary with a gala concert on March 12, 2016, honoring their co-founder, co-director, and baritone, Elliot Z. Levine. Levine plans to leave the ensemble in August 2016 after nearly 47 years. The program entitled We Thank You ... A Concert Honoring Elliot Z. Levine, will take place 8pm, at the Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street, New York City. It will feature compositions and arrangements by Levine as well as his favorite selections from each of his four decades with the ensemble.

The musical program will include Renaissance madrigals, early American vocal music, Judaica, jazz & pop arrangements, and music written for The WesternWind by Elliot Z. Levine, as well as Philip Glass, William Bolcom, Tania León, Robert Dennis, Eric Salzman, Meredith Monk, and Matthew Harris. It will also include the participation of a Western Wind workshop chorus and a student chorus from Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan where The Western Wind is in residence.

An accomplished composer, Levine has written and arranged many pieces for the ensemble and has created a body of innovative works for students in The Western Wind's New York City public school programs. Among his compositions are: i thank You God (poem by e. e. cummings), and settings of Hebrew prayers for Shabbat, the High Holy Days, Passover and Chanukah. His setting of Lo V'chayil commissioned for The Western Wind's Chanukah Story recording has entered the oral tradition and is sung around campfires and is often considered "traditional". In addition to his contributions to the Jewish liturgy he has also served as composer in residence at St. Thomas More Church in New York City and has set many prayers from the Catholic liturgy. Both genres will be included in the March 12th program.

The Western Wind began in 1969, when a group of young singers united by their love of vocal chamber music were asked to perform a concert for the Renaissance Society of America. After the concert seven of the eight singers decide to continue as a group and reached out to a young baritone with a soaring voice, Elliot Z. Levine, a senior at Queens College to be its eighth member. When deciding on a name for the ensemble, Co-Director William Zukof recalls, " "In the spring of 1969 we had several intense sessions when we were casting about for a name. Finally, we hit upon The Western Wind because we were working on the Sanctus from The Western Wind Mass by John Taverner (and we were all living on the west side of Manhattan at that time.) The Western Wind! Could be rock group like the Stones or the Beatles-remember it was 1969!"

The Western Wind has performed across the country to critical acclaim. Their concerts have been called "richly rewarding" by The New York Times, "Superb" byThe Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times called them, "A sextet that sings with deceptive lightness, rhythmic acuity, stylish affection and supreme textual clarity."

After establishing an international reputation the group expanded its scope through an arts education program in the New York City public schools. The Western Wind has affected the lives of thousands of kids, and their program became a model for how the professional arts community could use its resources to provide public school children with arts education. http://www.westernwind.org/education.html

The Western Wind conducts 'Workshops in Ensemble Singing'. The workshops, attended by vocalists ranging from novice to professional, ages eight to eighty, address the particular challenges of singing in small, largely un-conducted ensembles. http://www.westernwind.org/workshops.html. Workshop participants will form a chorus directed by Elliot Levine and will sing two pieces on the March 12th program.

Since 1989, The Western Wind has produced a series of radio programs distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio and Public Radio International. They have produced nineteen recordings, been honored with numerous awards including the prestigious ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award (two times) and were nominated for Best Chamber Music Performance by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. In addition they have performed music for films with Phillip Glass, and on national television.

Concert tickets: Premium $45, Regular $35, Student/Seniors $25, at

www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/the-western-wind/ or through the box office 212-501-3330. Info and benefit tickets available at www.westernwind.org/