Young People's Chorus of NYC & Young Voices of Melbourne to Partner for Performance, 6/30

Continuing its Transmusica series of concerts of cross-cultural and transformative music designed to build bridges to other world cultures and communities, the Young People's Chorus of New York City and its artistic director/founder Francisco J. Núñez will be joined by the Young Voices of Melbourne (Australia) at the 92nd Street Y Sunday afternoon, June 30, at 4 p.m., the first stop on the Australian choir's six-city tour of America. The joint performance will blend and highlight the music of Australia, America, and other countries in an exciting intermingling of voices and world cultures.

Fifty-two members of the Young Voices of Melbourne under their director Mark O'Leary will sing a program that includes stories of early Australian settlers, folk heroes, and its indigenous people written by some of the country's leading choral composers. Among them are Stephen Leek's arrangement of Botany Bay about a convict about to be sent to an Australian penal colony, Joseph Twist's Rain Dream about a child who has never experienced rain; and of course, Waltzing Matilda, Australia's most familiar song, in an arrangement that incorporates the native language of the Nyungar people of western Australia.

Under Francisco J. Núñez, the program of the Young People's Chorus of New York City includes music that shaped the American songbook, from Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal from the time of the colonists, through spirituals like Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, to music from the Broadway stage and jazz clubs of modern times. YPC's June 30 program offers a thrilling showcase of the choreographed American songs the chorus will perform for Chinese and Japanese audiences in a month-long tour of China and Japan this summer, its fifth Asian tour.

Afterwards, both youth choirs will join together for an international blending of voices in several songs, including Sesere Eeye, a folk song from Queensland's Torres Straight Islands, and the YPC anthem Give Us Hope.

Previous YPC Transmusica concerts have highlighted music from Indonesia and Hispanic countries in Latin America, Europe and South America.

Tickets, at $15 for adults and $5 for those under 18, are available now at the 92nd Street Y box office or by calling 212-415-5500.

The Young Voices of Melbourne, founded by its Director Mark O'Leary in 1990, is regarded as one of Australia's finest young choirs. Comprising children from 12 to 18, YVM began touring in 1996 and has performed on five continents. In recent years, the choir has sung in Singapore, Thailand, and Samoa and visited Europe as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations. Following YVM's concert with YPC on June 30, the first stop on its six-city, five-state, U.S. summer tour, the choristers will perform in San Francisco, Disneyland in Anaheim, the Idaho International Choral Festival in Pocotello, Idaho; Yellowstone National Park,and the International Choral Festival in Missoula, Montana.

The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award-winningYoung People's Chorus of New York City, founded 25 years ago by Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, is a multicultural youth chorus internationally renowned for its superb artistry and as a model of inclusiveness that is being replicated globally. More than 1,200 children from 7 to 18 participate in YPC's core after-school program, its satellite program in New York City schools, two national affiliates, and a new community chorus in Washington Heights. YPC receives invitations to perform from around the globe, and next month will embark on a month-long tour of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and five Japanese cities, including Tokyo, where YPC makes its Tokyo Philharmonic debut.

Tickets, at $15 for adults and $5 for those under 18, are available now at the 92nd Street Y box office or by calling 212-415-5500