HIDDEN TREASURES: THE SONGS OF LARRY KERCHNER Plays York Theatre, 11/5

Noted composer/lyricist/arranger and two-time Grammy Award nominee Larry Kerchner will be celebrated on Monday, November 5, 2012, at 7 PM at a special benefit performance of his musical works, titled Hidden Treasures: The Songs of Larry Kerchner, at The York Theatre (at St. Peter's), Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, in New York City. Produced by Sandi Durell, the musical evening will benefit The Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative and The Mabel Mercer Foundation.

The evening will feature performances of Kerchner's numerous musical works as a composer, lyricist and arranger by many of the cabaret world's most popular performers, including (in alphabetical order): Raissa Katona Bennett, Ann Hampton Callaway, Dennis Chiccino, Eric Comstock, Sandi Durell, Shana Farr (this year's winner of The Julie Wilson Award), Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall, Jeff Harner (this year's winner of The Noel Coward Award), Erica Scanlan Harr, Caitlin Kerchner, Hilary Kole, Randie Levine-Miller, Laurel Massé, Colleen McHugh, Sidney Myer, Jill O'Hara, Karen Oberlin, Eric Rudy, Kevin Spirtas, Stacy Sullivan, Tom Vaughn and other surprise guests!

Premium Seating (1st 5 Rows): $75; Regular Seating: $50 (A Portion of the ticket price is tax deductible.) To purchase tickets, call 212-935-5820 or visit www.yorktheatre.org. Checks are payable to: Lacait Productions.

The Musical Director is Tex Arnold. The Event Producer is Sandi Durell.

The Benefit Evening will provide funds for two very worthy charities:

The Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative and The Mabel Mercer Foundation. The Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative was created to bring the music of the Great American Songbook to young people today; to preserve it for future generations by creating vocal competitions nationwide, with winners attending the Songbook Vocal Academy; and given an opportunity to receive not only scholarship funds to continue their studies, but also appear with Michael on one of his shows. This year's winner, Nick Ziobro, will be performing in Hidden Treasures, and will give testament to the great work being done by the Feinstein Initiative.

The Mabel Mercer Foundation serves to both perpetuate the memory and spirit of its legendary namesake, as well as its founder Donald F. Smith (who passed away earlier this year) and to stimulate and promote public interest in the fragile and endangered world of cabaret.

"When Sandi Durell approached me earlier this year with the idea of celebrating my career with a musical tribute like this one, I was surprised and honored by the idea," says Kerchner. "When I thought more about it, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to also serve as a benefit to raise funds for two of my favorite organizations that support singers and the cabaret world – Michael Feinstein's Great American Songbook and The Mabel Mercer Foundation. I have worked with Michael and I know of his dedication to his project, and I also knew the late Donald Smith whose support of cabaret and singers is well known to everyone who loves cabaret."

Larry Kerchner is a composer, lyricist, arranger, and producer with years of experience in the music industry. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he is a voting member of NARAS, and a two-time GRAMMY Award nominee. He is also a member of ASCAP, the New York Sheet Music Society, and is on the Board of Directors of The Duke Ellington Center For the Arts. Mr. Kerchner's song, Winter in Manhattan was sung by Michael Feinstein in his Swing in the Holidays engagement at the Loews Regency, where New York Times critic Stephen Holden praised it as "Larry Kerchner's soft-focus cityscape" of New York City.

Larry has over 300 published compositions and arrangements for symphonic band, concert band, marching band, jazz band, orchestra, and chorus, and has served as composer and arranger for more than 70 Colleges and Universities, as well as The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He has produced jingles for McDonald's, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, to name but two, and is a member of the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. In addition to the hundreds of songs penned under his own name, Larry was the Behind-the-scenes writing force of many well-known songs and recordings through his numerous works-for-hire. Most recently he served as one of the judges at the 1st Annual Bob Stewart Tuba Competition, created by the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts which was held at the 37th Annual 52nd Street Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in New York City on Saturday, October 20, 2012.

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