Paul Winter's 29th Annual Summer Solstice Sunrise Concert Returns This Month

Seven-time Grammy winning saxophonist Paul Winter's 29th Annual Summer Solstice Sunrise Celebration will take place at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 22nd at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY.

The Paul Winter Consort will premiere a new musical journey, "Adventures in the Universe," inspired by composer Charles Ives' aural-vision of a "Universe Symphony," a work that Ives never realized, but which he encouraged future musicians to explore. Winter says, "Our aspiration is to use the extraordinary acoustics and space of the Cathedral to create a soundscape which might awaken in the imaginations of listeners some sense of the vastness of space and time in the universe."

Playing with the Consort for the first time will be special guest Jeff Beal on flugelhorn. A renowned jazz instrumentalist and composer, Jeff is perhaps best known for scoring the Netflix show House of Cards, for which he won his fifth Emmy.

The flugelhorn will be a companion voice to Paul Winter's soprano sax, among harmonic tapestries created by Brazilian pianist Henrique Eisenmann and organist Tim Brumfield.

"Summer Solstice is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its peak and the days abound with the promise of life's fullness," Winter says. "The ancients gathered at Stonehenge to catch the first rays of the summer sun, in the lineage of universal acknowledgement of the sun as the source of life, fertility, and good fortune. We have, in New York, the privilege of gathering in another stone forum, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. However, it has been an ongoing quest of our summer solstice celebrations, over the years, to experience this turning point of the year in a new way – with the aural rather than the visual – through this miracle of listening."

Why 4:30 a.m.? Paul Winter responds: "When I'm awake in the darkness before dawn –as the birds begin to sing and the Earth prepares to greet the Sun – I feel as if life is beginning again. There's something magical about that virginal time, when we're free of our habitual patterns and obligations. My dream of evoking this feeling in music was the original inspiration for our Summer Solstice Celebration.

"We begin playing in total darkness at 4:30 a.m., embarking on a continuous musical journey. Somewhere near the halfway point, listeners gradually realize that the Cathedral's great stained-glass windows are beginning to illuminate, as the light joins the sound to carry us into the dawning of the summer."

Yoga Mat Section: There will be a section of the nave roped off for yoga mats, for people who want to enjoy this deep-listening experience lying down.

Paul Winter's 29th Annual Summer Solstice Sunrise Celebration

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY 10025

4:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22, 2024.

$65 Preferred General Admission, $55 General Admission, $45 Yoga Mat.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS: Visit the Cathedral of St. John the Divine website HERE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: info@paulwinter.com.

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