American Symphony Orchestra Offers Live Chamber Music At Bryant Park & Herald Square, May 3–19

The American Symphony Orchestra will offer a free, nine-concert chamber music series to welcome spring at Manhattan's Bryant Park and 34th St. Herald Square Plaza from May 3-19.

The five different programs have been curated by ASO musicians, who will perform music ranging from 20th-century Mexican and all-American jazz composers to Afro-Cuban Batá drumming and classical works for horn quartet and woodwind trio. Featured artists include percussionist and composer Javier Diaz, saxophonist Roxy Coss, and oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz. All concerts last for one hour and begin at 5:30 pm. Complete details are listed below.

Music-lovers will find a limited number of first-come, first-served chairs set up near the Bryant Park Fountain Terrace in front of the stage and at Herald Square to enjoy an after-work respite with live music. Artists and audience members will be required to follow current public health guidelines including wearing masks and social distancing.

ASO CHAMBER ENSEMBLES AT BRYANT PARK & 34th ST HERALD SQUARE PLAZA

Modernism in Mexico - String Quartet

Monday, May 3 & Tuesday, May 4, at 5:30 pm
Bryant Park Fountain Terrace

Modernism in Mexico explores string quartets by some of Mexico's most important 20th-century composers: Manuel Ponce, Silvestre Revueltas, and Carlos Chávez. Ponce was Mexico's leading classical musician, and this performance of his well-known song Estrellita is a new arrangement for string quartet. Carlos Chávez was his student and heir apparent, touring extensively as a conductor and producing an impressive body of compositions. Chávez's close colleague, violinist Silvestre Revueltas, was a notable conductor/composer whose work includes the score to the 1936 film Redes (The Wave), commissioned by the Mexican government.

Cyrus Beroukhim, violin
Philip Payton, violin
Will Frampton, viola
Alberto Parrini, cello
Manuel Ponce: Estrellita
Manuel Ponce: Petite suite dans le style ancien
Silvestre Revueltas: Musica de Feria
Carlos Chávez: String Quartet No. 3

Strike Force - Percussion Ensemble

Wednesday, May 5 & Wednesday, May 12 at 5:30 pm
34th Street Herald Square Plaza
This percussion ensemble combines Afro-Cuban Batá drumming and poetry with the sounds of contemporary chamber percussion, featuring Grammy-nominated Imani Winds' oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz in compositions by percussionist and composer Javier Diaz.

Kory Grossman, Javier Diaz, and Charles Descarfino, percussion
Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
All-Javier Diaz Program:
"Chandani"
"Canciones del Idalgo"
"Maleza"
"Son Montuno Sinfonia"
"Sakpata"
"Lucumi Cycle"

ASO Salutes NYC/USA - Jazz Ensemble

Monday, May 10 & Tuesday, May 11 at 5:30 pm
Bryant Park Fountain Terrace

A truly American genre, the ASO presents this jazz ensemble as a salute to U.S. healthcare workers who have made it possible for New Yorkers to experience live music once again. The program, including works by Gershwin, Bernstein, Ellington, and Chick Corea, among others, celebrates composers who have defined the sound of this vibrant city.

Lee Musiker, piano
Lou Bruno, bass
Kory Grossman, drums
Eugene Moye, cello
Roxy Coss, tenor saxophone and flute
Harry Warren: "42nd Street"
George Gershwin: "It Ain't Necessarily So" from Porgy and Bess
Duke Ellington: "Take the A Train"
Leonard Bernstein: "Some Other Time"
Leonard Bernstein: "Cool" from West Side Story
Gustav Holst: I. Mars, the Bringer of War, from The Planets, Op. 32
Chick Corea: Children's Songs
Charles Mingus: "Nostalgia in Times Square"

Woodwind Trio

Tuesday, May 18 at 5:30 pm
Bryant Park Fountain Terrace

Woodwind chamber music had something of a renaissance in the 1920s; at the same time, works for reed trio-oboe, clarinet, and bassoon-were coming together with the formation of the Trio d'Anches de Paris, a collaboration of three virtuosi reed players. This program offers music from some of the greatest composers of wind music in the 20th century.

Alexandra Knoll, oboe
Shari Hoffman, clarinet
Marc Goldberg, bassoon
Charles Koechlin: Trio d'anches Op. 206
Jean Françaix: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon
Alexandre Tansman: Suite for Wind Trio
Claude Arrieu: Suite en trio
Albert Roussel: Andante from an Unfinished Wind Trio: Adagio
Joseph Canteloube: Rustiques - I. Pastorale
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon, FP 32a
Gilles Silvestrini: Oboe Etude No. 1: Hôtel des Roches Noires à Trouville

Horn Quartet

Monday, May 17 & Wednesday, May 19 at 5:30 pm
Bryant Park Fountain Terrace & 34th Street Herald Square Plaza

Perfectly at home in the outdoors, the horn quartet has enjoyed a rich history from the forest to the concert hall. This program features composers highlighted by Bard Music Festivals of the past with a few modern classics that will inspire.

Chad Yarbrough, David Smith, Lawrence DiBello, and David Peel, French horns
Nikolai Tcherepnin: Horn Quartet Op. 35
Carlos Chávez: Sonata for Four Horns
Richard Strauss: Fünf Volksliedsätze
Selections of Austrian hunting music
ASO Online and United We Play

For more information, please visit americansymphony.org.

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