In the Memory Palace

Tuesday, October 25 & Thursday, October 27, 2011, 8pm
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY

Michelle Areyzaga, soprano; Rebecca Jo Loeb, mezzo-soprano; Paul Appleby*, tenor; Andrew Garland, baritone; Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, pianists

Above:  A short video featuring Gabriel Kahane talking about composing The Memory Palace

In his song cycle The Memory Palace, Gabriel Kahane's haunting music and mordant lyrics point the listener along Kahane's own private East Coast route, an odd yet familiar-feeling detour dotted with personal landmarks and delicately remembered scenes of love and longing. An alternating series of cycles and quartets by other composers including Frank Bridge, Enrique Granados, Stephen Sondheim, and Heitor Villa-Lobos, follows the theme of desire across more distant borders of geography and imagination.

See the complete program >

Steven Blier talks about In the Memory Palace: "Memory Palace allows us to explore some of the composers whose music has fascinated us over the past years: the rarely-heard Frank Bridge, who was Benjamin Britten's teacher and a fascinating, multi-faceted songwriter in his own right; Enrique Granados, whose classic song cycle Tonadillas combines high-voltage charm with startling emotional depths; and Heitor Villa-Lobos, whose Forest of the Amazon songs are like an instant immersion (eco-friendly, of course) into the exotic, passionate sounds of the Brazilian jungle. Best of all, Memory Palace reunites us with one of today's greatest songwriters, Gabriel Kahane, who combines a refreshingly modern sensibility with the refinement and compositional skill of his greatest forbears: Elvis Costello mated with Gabriel Fauré."

Performed without intermission; approx. 90 min
Complimentary wine reception with the artists to follow.

Above: Michelle Areyzaga, Rebecca Jo Loeb, Paul Appleby, Andrew Garland and Steve Blier rehearsing for "In the Memory Palace" the opening performance of the 2011-2012 season

To purchase Real Deal tickets:
call the Merkin Box Office at 212.501.3330.

In the Memory Palace will also be performed at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Learn more >

Above: Gabriel Kahane, Steven Blier and Andrew Garland talk about The Memory Palace"
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NYFOS programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.  The NYFOS Merkin Hall concert series is made possible, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

*Paul Appleby appears with the cooperation of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program