100 Years of “Rhapsody in Blue” and Music from the American Academy in Rome: Janet and Arthur Ross Rome Prize Ceremony and Concert
Join us at Carnegie Hall for the centennial celebration of Rhapsody in Blue.
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On April 21, 1924, George Gershwin made his Carnegie Hall debut with the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue at a fundraising concert to benefit the American Academy in Rome as a part of the Experiments in Modern Music series. One hundred years later we pay tribute to this event, and to the evolution of new music at the Academy, with an adventurous concert curated by our Artistic Director George Lewis (2010 Academy Resident). The event features works by Academy Fellows and a special version of Rhapsody in Blue.
This special evening, announcing the Rome Prize winners and showcasing the Academy’s remarkable impact on contemporary classical music in the United States, will help raise vital funds to continue the Academy’s essential work. Proceeds from the evening will support the Academy’s fellowships.
PROGRAM
Joshua Rubin & Cory Smythe: Impressions on ‘Rhapsody in Blue’
Ulysses Kay: Prelude for solo flute (1976)
Sheila Silver: On Loving: II. Mindful of you (2015)
Roger Sessions: From My Diary (1937-1940)
Shih-Hui Chen: Fantasia on a Theme of Plum Blossoms: II. Ten Thousand Blooms (2012)
Courtney Bryan: In the Heart of God (2018)
Erin Gee: Mouthpiece II (2002)
David Sanford: Seventh Avenue Kaddish (2001)
Anthony Cheung: Bagatelles (2014)
PERFORMERS
Alice Teyssier, flute & soprano
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Pala Garcia, violin
Michelle Ross, violin
Kyle Armbrust, viola
Mariel Roberts, cello
Erika Dohi, piano
Cory Smythe, piano
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Now in its third decade, the International Contemporary Ensemble is a multidisciplinary collective of musicians, digital media artists, producers, and educators committed to building and innovating collaborative environments in order to inspire audiences to reimagine how they experience contemporary music and sound. The Ensemble creates a mosaic musical ecosystem as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), honoring the diversity of human experience and expression by commissioning, developing, recording, and performing the works of living artists in “a mission worth following” (I Care If You Listen).
CREDITS
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2023-24 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors, many individuals, as well as the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, Cheswatyr Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Siemens Musikstiftung, New Music USA, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.