PREformances with Allison Charney Launches Season Nine at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center

This article was originally published on BroadwayWorld.com on September 17, 2017.

“PREformances with Allison Charney” launches its 2017-2018 Concert Series Season in its new home at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center. Both intimate and stately the 450-seat Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center is located within the world-renown epicenter of classical music on Manhattan’s West Side. Widely regarded as having near-perfect acoustics Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center’s 2007 renovation by noted American architect and native New Yorker, Robert A. M. Stern has merited praise for offering barrier free accessibility for all audience members.

In celebration of its Season Nine move to Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center PREformances’ guest artists will include, among other noted musicians: The ARK Trio, Jordan Charney, stage and screen actor; Joel Fan, pianist; Pam Goldberg, pianist; Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violinist; Elizabeth Mann, flutist; Blair McMillen, pianist; Daniel Panner, violist; Jason Tramm, conductor; Kajsa William-Olsson, cellist; CarolWincenc, flutist; Rupei Yeh, cellist; Julia Zilberquit, pianist. Together with Craig Ketter, PREformances’ noted collaborative pianist, soprano Allison Charney, performs on every concert. To commemorate the milestone, renown visual artist, designer and director Doug Fitch has created artwork celebrating a new look for “PREformances with Allison Charney” Season Nine Series’ launch on October 16, 2017coinciding with its new web and social media presence this Fall.

The innovative classical concert series “PREformances with Allison Charney” invites audience to experience celebrated classical musicians in “PREformances” anticipating their upcoming engagements on the world’s most prestigious stages. Acclaimed opera singer Allison Charney hosts a behind-the-scenes glimpse into top-level artists’ practices and performance, deliberately blurring the traditional barriers which exist between classical musicians and audience in concerts. Ms. Charney promises a complete concert experience that provides entertainment and insight providing audiences with classical music knowledge “that she promises “is simply not Googleable.”

Throughout its previous eight seasons “PREformances with Allison Charney” has presented over 95 of the preeminent musicians of our time. Notable appearances include those by New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, Metropolitan Opera stars William Burden and Maria Zifchak, flutist Carol Wincenc, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, pianists Joel Fan and Navah Perlman, just to name a few. In addition, the series has presented new classical works by composers Michael Ching, Moshe Knoll, Kim D. Sherman and Dina Pruzhansky.

PREformances with Allison Charney classical concert series begins Monday October 16, 2017 at 1PMand consists of two Monday Matinee Concerts at 1:00pm: October 16, 2017 and April 23, 2018; and twoMonday Evening Concerts at 7:30pm on November 27, 2017 and March 5, 2018. Single tickets start at $30 and an Inaugural Subscription Packages for Two/Three/Four Concert Series range from $50, $75 and $80 and are on sale now and available online or at the Kaufman Music Center Box Office.

The Kaufman Music Center location at Lincoln Square is easily accessible by public transportation and positions “PREformances with Allison Charney” within the world-renowned epicenter of classical music – the concert halls and academic centers that are “home” to of many of PREformances featured guests. Fittingly PREformances with Allison Charney new look reflects the visual sensibility of its Lincoln Plaza location. Doug Fitch – who reimagined PREformances new look in celebration of its Season Nine move to Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center – recent work includes several projects conducted by Alan Gilbert for the New York Philharmonic, including Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre (cited as the top opera of 2010 by The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York), Janác?ek’s The Cunning Little Vixen (2011) New York Magazine‘s “Best Classical Event of the Year”), A Dancer’s Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky (2013), later screened in movie theaters worldwide); and HK Gruber’s Gloria – A Pig Tale (2014) with forces from The Juilliard School as part of the New York Philharmonic‘s Biennial.

“PREformances with Allison Charney” owes a debt of gratitude to Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director of the JCC Manhattan and Megan Whitman, Director of The Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas where the series was originally incubated and evolved from proof of concept into a featured programing component of the JCC Manhattan’s cultural offerings on Manhattan’s upper West Side. “PREformances with Allison Charney” maintains a charitable relationship with the Basser Center for BRCA at the University of Pennsylvania – contributing to its research efforts and by promoting awareness of the Basser Center’s mission of advancing the care of individuals living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. “PREformances with Allison Charney” is supported in part through the generosity of its patron group – “Friends of PREformances” – donors who believe in the series mission and vision and whose partnership enables the development of new works in addition to educational community outreach efforts offering free tickets to aspiring young professional musicians as well as students without regular access to high quality classical music programming. To learn more about “PREformances with Allison Charney,” its Friends group and member benefits (which also include preferred seating at all series concerts and two additional private concerts) visit www.preformances.org

PREFORMANCES WITH Allison Charney SERIES INFORMATION

The classical music series begins Monday October 16, 2017 at 1PM and consists of two Monday Matinee Concerts: October 16, 2017 at 1pm and April 23, 2018 at 1:00pm; and two Monday Evening Concerts onNovember 27, 2017 at 7:30pm and March 5, 2018 at 7:30pm. In addition to its widely admired acoustics, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center is completely wheelchair accessible from “entrance to your seat.” Single tickets start at $30; Inaugural Subscription Packages for Two/Three/Four Concert Series range from $50, $75 and $80 and are on sale now and available online or at the Kaufman Music Center Box Office located at 129 W 67th Street, New York City.

ABOUT KAUFMAN MUSIC CENTER

Kaufman Music Center is New York’s go-to place for music education and performance.

It’s where music lovers, from curious fans to renowned performers, come together to explore their musical passions. Founded in 1952 as a community music school, today’s Kaufman Music Center is one of the city’s most vibrant cultural organizations and home to Merkin Concert Hall; Lucy Moses School, New York’s largest community arts school; Special Music School, a K-12 public school for musically gifted children; and the acclaimed youth new music ensemble Face the Music. KaufmanMusicCenter.org (Kaufman Music Center’s state of the art facilities fully anticipate the ease of audience utilizing wheel chairs or who have hearing impairments. To learn more visit patron services)

ABOUT Allison Charney (COURTESY OF RANDSMAN ARTIST MANAGEMENT)

Soprano Allison Charney‘s operatic career began in earnest following the national finals of the Metropolitan Opera Competition with her debut at The New York City Opera as Musetta in LA BOHÈME. She went on to sing most of Puccini’s leading soprano roles in opera companies throughout the country, including the title roles in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, TOSCA and SUOR ANGELICA, Mimi in LA BOHÈME and Liù in TURANDOT, earning a reputation for her “vocal agility, lush sound and dramatic portrayals” of the lirico-spinto roles in her wide-ranging repertoire. Ms. Charney has experienced enormous success with her Mozart interpretations as well, including both Susanna and the Countess in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE andSandrina in the rarely heard LA FINTA GIARDINIERA. She wowed both audience and critics all over the United States with her tour-de-force portrayals of all three heroines in Offenbach’s TALES OF HOFFMANN. Her versatility has also led her to sing roles as varied as Rosalinde in DIE PREFORMANCES WITH Allison Charney 4 FLEDERMAUS, Micaëla in CARMEN, Nedda in PAGLIACCI, Santuzza in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA and the title roles in MARTHA, LA TRAVIATA, JENUFA and THE MERRY WIDOW.

Ms. Charney’s career has brought her to opera companies across the United States, including The New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Memphis, Annapolis Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, New Rochelle Opera, Opera Illinois, OperaDelaware, Utah Festival Opera, DiCapo OperaTheater, Tampa Opera, Opera Idaho, Syracuse Opera, Washington Summer Opera Festival, Colorado Opera Festival and Mississippi Opera. Concert highlights have included performances at Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, as a featured soloist with the esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra and with the Boston Pops under the baton of Alan Gilbert. Continuing her commitment to performing music of our times, Ms. Charney recently premiered Moshe Knoll‘s PSALM 133 with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, in a concert that also featured Kim D. Sherman‘s oratorio (composed for Ms. Charney) SONGBIRD AND THE EAGLE. Upcoming performances will include further premieres of pieces by Michael Ching, Ms. Sherman and Mr. Knoll, whose PSALM 133 she will sing in concert October 27, 2017 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center where she will also be the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s NINTH SYMPHONY in “Prayer for Peace: The Power of One Voice.”

Ms. Charney is featured in the recently-released, first recording of the Pulitzer Prize nominated oratorio CHOOSE LIFE, by composer Mona Lyn Reese and can be heard in a CD of American song with pianist, Benjamin Loeb, on the DSC Label. Ms. Charney is a founding member of the ARK trio, who is scheduled to release their first recording in 2017. Ms. Charney is an active recitalist and master teacher and is the founder and curator of the concert series, PREformances with Allison Charney. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude with highest honors, in Special Concentrations from Harvard University, she went on to earn two graduate degrees in music from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Charney now lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

“PREformances with Allison Charney”

Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center

129 W 67th Street, New York, NY 10036

Single Tickets and Series Subscriptions on sale now

Kaufman Music Center Box Office and Online

Season Debut, Monday October 16, 2017 at 1PM

Series consists of Two Monday Matinee Concerts: October 16 2017 at 1pm and April 23 at 1:00pm

Two Monday Evening Concerts: November 27 at 7:30pm and March 5 at 7:30pm

PHOTO CAPTION: ARTWORK BY DOUG FITCH/GRAPHICS COURTNEY JIMERSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN BARTELSTONE