Rite of Summer Presents AMERICAN AND ARGENTINE SOUNDS FROM BERNSTEIN TO PIAZZOLLA Tonight

Pianists & Artistic Directors Blair McMillen and Pam Goldberg are thrilled to present the busiest season yet of the Rite of Summer Music Festival, taking place Summer 2014 at Colonels' Row on Governors Island, New York City. In a locale The New York Times has called a "Playground for the Arts," the aim of the Festival is simple: to present the highest quality live performances, and to bring free contemporary classical music to as many people as possible in a relaxed, fun, outdoor setting.

Coming up next for round three tonight, August 9th, one of Rite of Summer's very own, pianist and ROS co-director Pam Goldberg, will collaborate with violinist Esther Noh, cellist Caitlin Sullivan and soprano Allison Charney in a fabulous program titled: American and Argentine Sounds from Bernstein to Piazzolla.

Bringing the season to an ecstatic conclusion on Saturday, September 6th, the NYC-based piano "supergroup" Grand Band will present A Bigger Picture with six-piano music by Steve Reich, Kate Moore, Philip Glass, and two New York premieres by Michael Gordon and Paul Kerekes.

August and September Rite of Summer shows will be presented twice the same day, at 1pm and 3pm, for each respective date. Audiences should feel free to walk by, stop and listen, lay down a picnic blanket and relax, eat lunch, intermingle, and take in these engaging live performances.

Governors Island is a short ferry ride from South Ferry, in lower Manhattan and from Brooklyn Bridge Park. For a full ferry schedule, please visit www.govisland.com. For more information, visit www.riteofsummer.com.

*Rain date: Aug. 10

The Program includes:

Bolcom - Graceful Ghost Rag (solo piano)
Corigliano - Forever Young (piano, soprano)
Bernstein - Dream with Me (piano, soprano)
Kevin Puts - Arches (solo violin)
David Lang - Wed (piano trio)
Piazzolla - Four Seasons (piano trio) - Spring & Autumn

Pam Goldberg, Pianist & Rite of Summer Co-Director

Acknowledged by many to have created the blueprint for places like Le Poisson Rouge and SubCulture, Pam Goldberg is a unique combination of professional pianist and entrepreneur. Having concertized in New York in varied venues both as soloist & chamber musician Pam decided to create a different environment for both performer and audience - distinctly different from the concert halls. The first was Classical Cafe, under the auspices of the 92nd Street Y where the highest level musicians played in a subterranean cafe to young audiences, who were able to enjoy classical music in a relaxed and informal setting.

The results were so satisfying that Pam decided to expand to an even larger audience and Governors Island became the perfect venue. Again, top flight musicians but this time not playing to an intimate audience but to hundreds in an outdoor setting at historic Colonels' Row on the Island. Rite of Summer Music Festival is the first concert series of its kind on Governors Island and is now in its fourth season.

In addition to her entrepreneurial skills and her playing, Pam also enjoys teaching. She served on the piano faculty of the Diller-Quaile School of Music for 10 years, and she still teaches privately. In 1999, she released a solo album featuring Schumann's Kreisleriana and Mozart's Sonata in Bb Major, K.570, and she has since recorded a CD of Mozart's sonatas for piano & violin with violinist, Christine Sohn.

Allison Charney, Soprano

Soprano Allison Charney's operatic career began in earnest following the national finals of the Metropolitan Opera Competition with her debut at the New York City Opera as Musetta in LA BOHÈME. She went on to sing most of Puccini's leading soprano roles in opera companies throughout the country, including the title roles in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, TOSCA and SUOR ANGELICA, Mimi in LA BOHÈME and Liù in TURANDOT, earning a reputation for her "vocal agility, lush sound and dramatic portrayals" of the lirico-spinto roles in her wide ranging repertoire. Ms. Charney has experienced enormous success with her Mozart interpretations as well, including both Susanna and the Countess in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and Sandrina in the rarely-heard LA FINTA GIARDINIERA. She wowed both audience and critics all over the United States with her tour-de-force portrayals of all three heroines in Offenbach's TALES OF HOFFMANN.

The summer of 2014 will find Ms. Charney performing in the Rite of Summer Festival on Governors Island, as well as in duo recitals with cellist, Kajsa William-Olsson. Ms. Charney is featured in the newly-released, first recording of the Pulitzer Prize nominated oratorio CHOOSE LIFE, by composer Mona Lyn Reese and can be heard in a CD of American songs with pianist, Benjamin Loeb, on the DSC Label. Ms. Charney is an active recitalist and master teacher and is the founder and curator of the concert series, PREformances with Allison Charney housed at the JCC of Manhattan. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude with highest honors, in Special Concentrations from Harvard University, she went on to earn two graduate degrees in music from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Charney now lives in New York City with her husband, Adam Epstein and their two sons, Evan and Oliver.

Esther Noh, Violinist

Violinist Esther Noh has garnered acclaim for her achievements as both a classical and alternative music performer. She has soloed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony and has been a featured artist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She has toured throughout the country with artists such as Meredith Monk and the ETHEL string quartet and has performed in New York City at major venues, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Recital Hall and Miller Theater.

Ms. Noh is also an active champion of improvised and alternative music. She has collaborated with John Zorn and Bang on a Can, and has presented avant-garde music at virtually every contemporary space in New York City, such as Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, The Stone, and The Cutting Room. She has premiered numerous contemporary composers' works, and plays and records with singer/songwriters and on independent film soundtracks.

Ms. Noh holds a doctorate with honors from SUNY Stony Brook.

Caitlin Sullivan, Cellist

A native of Long Island, cellist Caitlin Sullivan is an active chamber, orchestral and contemporary music performer based in New York City. Ms. Sullivan has performed and recorded with critically acclaimed ensembles ranging from the Knights to the New York Philharmonic, and is a member of the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis, TN, conducted by Michael Stern. As a member of the exciting and engaging young collective Decoda, Ms. Sullivan has participated in teaching and performing residencies both nationally and internationally, including her role as project leader for residencies in South Africa and Japan. Currently, Ms. Sullivan is on the Teaching Artist faculty with the New York Philharmonic, as well as a Teaching Artist for The Learning Arts, based in the Adirondack region of New York. Ms. Sullivan is a graduate of Carnegie Hall's Academy fellowship, the Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music.