the new school's college of performing arts announces spring 2020 season

CoPA's Spring season includes the New York premiere of Philip Glass's Symphony No. 10 and Suor/Dafne, a boundary-pushing opera production

CoPA students performing the world premiere of Jean-Baptiste Barrière's experimental opera "The Art of Change"

New York, February 12, 2020 – The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA) announces its spring 2020 season highlights, featuring new works, premieres, and cross-disciplinary performances by students, faculty and guest artists. Across Mannes, Jazz, and Drama, the college continues to build on its reputation as a destination for cutting-edge work that challenges and inspires CoPA students and audiences alike. This season’s highlights include the Mannes Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall performing the New York premiere of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 10, the first ever orchestral performance of excerpts from “Instrumentals” by Arthur Russell and Steve Reich’s highly influential Tehillim; the boundary-pushing Mannes Opera production of Suor/Dafne, which meshes together Puccini’s Suor Angelica (1908) and da Gagliano’s La Dafne (1608) with American folk songs; and MACE (Mannes American Composers Ensemble) performing a concert of works exclusively by the Mannes composition faculty which includes some of today's most important composers, among them David T. Little, Joan La Barbara and Missy Mazzoli.

In addition to its student-led work, the College of Performing Arts is fast becoming New York’s go-to presenting organization for new and experimental work. From five shows a week at The Stone to Women Between Arts, and the Philip Glass Institute to ensembles-in-residence like JACKQuartet, CoPA’s season offers audiences many of the newest and most exciting performances across the city.

MACE (Mannes American Composers Ensemble)
Conducted by David Hayes, this special MACE concert features a program of works by members of the Mannes composition faculty. With a faculty that includes some of the most important voices of the 21st century, this concert showcases the originality and the stylistic diversity of this remarkable cohort.

Program:
David Loeb - From Remote Islands
Robert Cuckson - Intermezzo 
Huang Ruo - Confluence 
Missy Mazzoli - Set that on Fire
Timo Andres - Some Connecticut Gospel
Joan La Barbara - Vlissingen Harbor
David T. Little - Valuable Natural Resources

Monday, March 9, 7:30pm, John L. Tishman Auditorium, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Free, RSVP

Mannes Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall

Led by Alan Pierson, the Mannes Orchestra takes the stage at Alice Tully Hall for a special concert featuring voices from New York’s Downtown Music scene. The Mannes Orchestra will perform both landmark and new works by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Arthur Russell. 

Arthur Russell was a cellist and composer, a frequent collaborator with the likes of Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg, and was a central figure in the Downtown Music scene. Russell was a bold composer, developing  new ideas in a soundworld that included minimalist, pop, experimental, disco, and folk styles. A prolific figure during his own lifetime, his life was chronicled in a 2008 documentary, and his music continues to be performed today. Russell died from AIDS-related illness in 1992. First performed in 1975, the excerpts from “Instrumentals” will be heard for the first time in an arrangement for large orchestra.

Program:
Russell - Excerpts from “Instrumentals
Reich - Tehillim (The orchestra will be joined by vocalists from Mannes School of Music)
Glass - Symphony No. 10 (New York Premiere)

Friday, March 13, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway, New York, NY
Tickets: via lincolncenter.org, the Alice Tully Hall Box Office, or CenterCharge at 212.721.6500

Mannes Opera Presents: Suor/Dafne

Suor/Dafne takes two operas separated by 300 years (Marco da Gagliano’s La Dafne from 1608 and Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica from 1918) and weaves them together with American folk songs to create a singular musical event. This bold project is in keeping with the Mannes mission to present classical repertoire in new and innovative ways. The themes of desire, rejection, despair, and spiritual longing reverberate throughout this sonically rich and dramatically vivid portrait of young women in extreme situations.

Suor/Dafne pushes against the boundaries of what opera can be: Conductor Geoff McDonald (a Mannes alumnus) and director Emma Griffin  collaborate to construct a score and libretto from this disparate material. With a reduced Puccini orchestra in the pit and a small baroque ensemble with a modern guitarist on stage, the musical shifts and interweavings tell as much of the story as does the narrative of the two operas.

Conductor - Geoff McDonald
Stage Director - Emma Griffin
Sets - Kaye Voyce
Costumes - Asta Hostetter
Lights - Oona Curley

Saturday, April 18, 7:00pm, Sunday, April 19, 2:00pm, Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 524 W. 59th Street, New York, NY
Tickets $25/$10 (students and seniors) go on sale March 10 via ticketcentral.com

New School Studio Orchestra

The College of Performing Arts's newest ensemble, the New School Studio Orchestra is composed of students from the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Mannes School of Music, performing music from a wide variety of genres including jazz, soul, pop, and improvised music. This semester, the orchestra will be led by composer and jazz trombonist Ed Neumeister and Grammy-nominated Argentinian born pianist and composer Emilio Solla.

Student Compositions with Ed Neumeister, director 
Monday, February 24, 7:00pm, Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, 55 W. 13th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY
Free, RSVP

The music of Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra’s Puertos – Music From International Waters with Emilio Solla, director
Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm, John L. Tishman Auditorium, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Free, RSVP

(Un)Silent Film Night: Celebrating Buster Keaton

The CoPA Theater Orchestra, composed of students from Mannes School of Music and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, will perform a reprise of the first ever (Un)Silent Film Night movie, Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. with a score by Hollywood composer Craig Marks. The film will be preceded by One Week, a short Keaton film featuring a score by frequent CoPA collaborator Carl Davis.

The (Un)Silent Film series has been critical in advancing the resurgence of film screenings with live music. Previous editions have drawn capacity crowds to the 400-seat Tishman Auditorium and have been hosted by Matthew Broderick, Bill Irwin, Rob Bartlett, Ed Rothstein, and Michael Bacon. (Un)Silent Film Nights have presented the world premieres of works composed for The Birds and The Immigrant (by Nathan Kamal and Alexis Cuadrado respectively), a New York premiere of a score by Hollywood composer Craig Marks for the film Sherlock, Jr., and Charlie Chaplin's original scores for Gold Rush and other Chaplin classics.

Friday, May 8, 7:30pm, John L. Tishman Auditorium, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Free, RSVP

Philip Glass Institute Presents

Haimovitz and Bielawa perform Bielawa and Glass

Including a world premiere performance of Glass’s Chaotic Harmony for cello and voice, the concert will also feature works by Lisa Bielawa and Philip Glass performed by students of Mannes School of Music.

Glass ViV - Company for string quartets 
Bielawa - Graffiti dell’amante for voice and string quartet 
Glass - Chaotic Harmony (world premiere)
Bielawa - Synopsis #6: Why Did You Lie to Me? for solo cello 

Sunday, May 3, 7:00pm, Glassbox Theater, 55 W. 13th Street, 1st Floor, New York, NY
Free with reservation

Eleonor Sandresky
Strange Energies Album Release Event

The Philip Glass Institute hosts the release event for Eleonor Sandresky’s new album, Strange Energies. The concert will feature Grand Band, a sextet ensemble of New York pianists that includes Mannes faculty member Blair McMillen and others.

Program:
Sandresky - Strange Energies, études for solo piano 
Glass - Etudes #2, 9, 12 and 16 for solo piano 

Saturday April 11, 2020, 7:00pm, Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, 55 W. 13th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY
Free with reservation

Lisa Bielawa at The Stone
Lisa Bielawa, Chief Curator and Inaugural Composer in Residence at the Philip Glass Institute 
(March 10–14)

Established in 2019, the Philip Glass Institute is a dynamic center for learning, performance, and creation, housed within The New School’s College of Performing Arts. The institute honors and celebrates the work and ethos of Philip Glass, using his approach to artistry and entrepreneurship as a model for today's young artists. Lisa Bielawa is the inaugural composer-in-residence and chief curator.

Ensemble in Residence
JACK Quartet: Album Release
The JACK Quartet celebrates the release of their newest album featuring Cenk Ergün’s mind-bending Celare and outrageously ruthless Sonare, both commissioned by Chamber Music America in 2016. The two works are woven together by Sky Macklay’s Many Many Cadences and the US premiere of Oscar Bianchi’s The Pathos of Distance.

Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:30pm Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, 55 W. 13th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY
Free with reservation

New Visions Directing Festival
Third year MFA directors helm productions of full-length classic and contemporary works performed in a repertory setting. These productions highlight the talents of graduating directors and provide an introduction to each director’s work and aesthetic.

Attempts on Her Life, by Martin Crimp, directed by Diane Machin, February 13-15

Spell No 7, by Ntozake Shange, directed by Nigel Semaj Barnes, March 12-14

Richard III, by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Pauls Macs, April 9-11

The Theater at Bank Street, 151 Bank Street, New York, NY
Free with reservation

The Stone at The New School

This season at The Stone features Kris Davis, Linda May Han Oh, Fay Victor and Sean Lennon among others. 

To see the full lineup, go to http://thestonenyc.com/calendar

The Stone at The New School, Glassbox Theater, 55 W. 13th Street, 1st Floor, New York, NY

Women Between Arts

Women Between Arts (WBA) is New York’s leading interdisciplinary womxn and non-binary avant-garde/experimental artists series, created and curated by multi- and interdisciplinary artist Luisa Muhr at The New School's College of Performing Arts. The February 15th event will feature performances by avantgardists Claire Chase, Iva Bittová, and Sonic Mud (Julia Elsas & Kenny Wollesen Group with Sae Hashimoto, Jessica Lurie, Aubrey Smith, and Kirk Knuffke). March 28th will see multimedia artists Jean Carla Rodea, Keiko Uenishi, and Mazz Swift present their work. On April 4th boundary-pushers Dafna Naphtali, Emily Smith, and Nilusha Dassenaike's 10 Blessings will perform. Finally, May 23rd will feature sound magicians Eva Ingolf, Ikue Mori, and Lee Gilboa. 

More information, full line-up and tickets: www.womenbetweenarts.com

February 15, March 28, April 4, May 23 at 4:00pm, Glassbox Theater, 55 W. 13th Street, 1st Floor, New York, NY

More events at the College of Performing Arts

Mannes Sounds Festival: A Celebration of American Women: Artistic Achievement and Suffrage Victory

Featuring students from Mannes, Jazz, and Drama, this concert weaves together music, historical writings, visual art, and poetry into an evening that recognizes and celebrates women’s suffrage.

Program:

Amy Beach - Ballade for piano, op. 6 
Florence Price - “Night” for mezzo-soprano 
Betty Jackson King - “Dawn” for soprano 
Ruth Crawford-Seeger - “Sunsets” for mezzo-soprano from Five Songs
Johanna Beyer - “Total Eclipse” from Three Songs for soprano and clarinet 
Rachel J. Peters - Selections from If You Can Prove That I Should Set You Free for 2 singers, piano and narrator 
Joan Tower - Holding a Daisy & Or like a...an engine for piano
Missy Mazzoli - Set That On Fire for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin and piano 
Caroline Shaw - Gustave Le Gray for piano        
Valerie Coleman -Red Clay and Mississippi Delta for wind quintet 
Melba Liston - “Insomnia” for jazz ensemble 
Joanne Brackeen - "Twin Dreams” for jazz ensemble

Tuesday, February 18 at 7:00pm, John L. Tishman Auditorium, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Free, RSVP

Mannes Orchestra at John L. Tishman Auditorium
63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Friday, February 21, 7:30pm: RSVP here

Monday, May 11, 7:30pm: RSVP here

Mannes Orchestra with Martha Graham Dance

Martha Graham Dance Company presents The EVE Project—programs of acclaimed classics and stunning commissions celebrating female empowerment.  All performances feature live music performed by The Mannes Orchestra.

April 22-26, New York City Center, 131 W 55th St, New York, NY
More info and tickets here

Mannes Chamber Music Bash
Sunday, May 3, 11:00am - 5:00pm, Arnhold Hall, 55 W. 13th Street, New York, NY


The College of Performing Arts at The New School (CoPA) was formed in 2015 and brings together the iconic Mannes School of Music, the legendary School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the ground-breaking School of Drama. With each school contributing its unique culture of creative excellence, the College of Performing Arts is a hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration, bold experimentation, innovative education, and world-class performances. 

As a part of The New School, students across CoPA experience a supportive and rigorous environment that provides abundant opportunities for collaboration with students and faculty in a wide array of disciplines including the visual arts, fashion, design and technology, architecture, philosophy, psychology, public policy, advocacy, and more. CoPA has over 1100 students seeking degrees and diplomas in performance, composition, acting, writing, as well as arts management and entrepreneurship. New York City’s Greenwich Village provides the backdrop for the College of Performing Arts, which is housed at Arnhold Hall on West 13th Street and the historic Westbeth Artists Community on Bank Street.

Founded in 1919, The New School was established to advance academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. A century later, The New School remains at the forefront of innovation in higher education, inspiring more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students to challenge the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The university welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and public programs that encourage open discourse and social engagement. Through our online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence.

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