The Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York, John Henry Lambert, Music Director, performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, Music Director, on Sunday, August 17, at the Sosnoff Theater of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

The concert, titled 20th Century Russia – Nostalgia and Reality, was presented as part of the 19th Annual Bard Music Festival, the centerpiece of Bard SummerScape, and marked the second collaboration between these two organizations. The Festival theme for this year was “Prokofiev and His World”, and the August 17 concert featured performances of the Russian master’s Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, Op. 74, Egyptian Nights Suite and They Are Seven, cantata after Bal’mont, Op. 30. Works by Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Dukelsky (Vernon Duke) were also presented.

Performers were The Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York, conducted by John Lambert, Music Director; Dina Kuznetsova, soprano; Scott Williamson, tenor; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director and the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, Music Director.

The Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York is a unique ensemble of 28 leading professional brass and percussion instrumentalists. Founded in 1982 by John Henry Lambert, Gramercy Brass was twice the First Place winner of the North American Brass Band Competitions (1984 and 1985) and 1994 recipient of the Lincoln Center Community Arts Award, which let to its acclaimed Alice Tully Hall debut in May of 1995, with guest artists, the Marvin Stamm Jazz Quartet.

The Gramercy Brass is based in the Gramercy-Flatiron neighborhood of New York City, and is the host ensemble of the Flatiron Festival of Music, a collaboration with the 23rd Street Association, supported by Time Warner Cable and other major area businesses. They record for Koch International Classics. Visit them at http://www.gramercybrass.com/Entrance.html.

Source: Jeffrey James Arts Consulting