Performance
I perform in a variety of ensembles around and outside of New York, ranging from chamber music appearances in Carnegie Hall as a part of Ensemble ACJW to playing in the pit for the New York City Ballet to subbing with the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis, TN. I also like to organize interdisciplinary concerts – events like recitals in people's homes where I can talk about the music on the program and meet each person afterwards, or collaborations with art galleries that bring together artists of many kinds. Please browse through the ensembles and organizations that I play with, past and upcoming concert programs, and, of course – performance dates!
Ensemble ACJW
Named after the institutions that make up the Academy – A Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute, Ensemble ACJW presents a series of mixed chamber music concerts in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie as well as chamber orchestra concerts in Zankel Hall at Carnegie. Additionally, Ensemble ACJW appears around New York City in interactive school performances and in upstate New York, performing at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. Please visit http://www.acjw.org/events.html for all of Ensemble ACJW’s public appearances in 2008-09.
Orchestra of St. Luke's
A few months after moving to New York, I began to substitute with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, an organization that presents a tremendously diverse array of programs, from a regular season in the Isaac Stern Hall at Carnegie Hall to a summer season at the Caramoor Festival in upstate New York. The orchestra appears in “special event” donor and gala performances around the City and performs a large number of concerts in and with schools each season. I love playing with St. Luke’s both because of the orchestra’s high musical standards and skill, and also because of the amazingly warm and dedicated attitude of its musicians. Regardless of the program, the Orchestra takes seriously the music being performed, and each individual seems to appreciate and mirror this philosophy. Some of my appearances with St. Luke’s have been highlights of my New York City musical life. http://www.oslmusic.org/home
New York City Ballet
I began playing with the New York City Ballet Orchestra in the spring of 2008, joining them for their spring and summer seasons that year and their celebration of the award-winning choreographer Jerome Robbins. The NYCB is in residence at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center for its Nutcracker, Winter, and Spring Seasons, and at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY during the summer season. http://www.nycb.org/nycb/home/
IRIS Orchestra
I am delighted that this year I will be joining the IRIS Orchestra, an orchestra founded by conductor Michael Stern and comprised of musicians from all over the United States who come together to perform at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre outside of Memphis, Tennessee. http://www.irisorchestra.com/
House concerts
In December of 2007, I performed in my first New York City house concert, and discovered a niche that seems particularly well-suited to my beliefs about performance. I love the intimacy of performing for a small audience in a personal space. Venues like this invite a dialogue between the artist and audience, and I enjoy the chance to speak with the audience both from the “stage” and also after the performance – inevitably these house concerts are followed by a warm reception where guests and artists can freely share ideas and impressions. Many of the house concerts in which I have appeared in New York were arranged by a man who has begun a small side business of matching hosts with artists after years of informally organizing such events. Please visit his website if you are interested in attending, hosting, or performing in one! Or get in touch with me if you want to organize one together. House Concerts by Michael
Art gallery concerts
In March of 2008, I began to realize a long-time fantasy of performing in an art gallery. I have always been interested in bringing together artists and academics from different disciplines, and am particularly struck by the polarity within the arts themselves. So many musician friends of mine are not interested in visual art – and many because they feel like they “don’t get it,” while many visual artist friends of mine (not to mention theater-friends and dancer-friends and, of course, academic-friends) scarcely ever attend classical concerts for the same reason. And yet, I believe that, fundamentally, all artists are trying to do the same thing! We are all out there to communicate, to express and share something that gives us hope, joy, comfort – and this speaks to the essence of humanity. One of the many ideas that I’ve thought about over the past several years involves performing in spaces such as art galleries, publishing houses, black box theaters, in an effort to combine performers and artistic disciplines in a way that allows audience members and participants from different genres the chance to explore and enjoy each other’s work. Do you want to organize a concert together? Host one in your publishing house or your bookstore or in front of your Ansel Adams photography collection? Or would you rather combine literary themes with musical text? Or bring together the rhythm of a paintbrush and a Bartok quartet? Contact me!