The program also includes the first performance of the newly revised and extended Mosaico Latinoamericano for flute and orchestra. Based on folk music from various geographical locations in Latin America this work was first performed in Switzerland in 1991. Flutist Lisa Hansen will be the soloist. A Juilliard graduate, Ms. Hansen joined North/South Consonance in 1988 upon her return to New York after serving for several seasons as the principal flutist of the Mexico City Philharmonic.

The concert will open with a performance of Yellow Ribbons No. 40, a recent installment in a series of works inspired by the 1979 American Hostage crisis in Iran. The dramatic four movement work was first performed in February of 2005. The Yellow Ribbons series of compositions was begun in 1980. In addition to honoring the former American hostages in Iran, these works celebrate the political and artistic freedom so often taken for granted in the West.

The Wagner College Chamber Singers under the direction of Roger Wesby will perform a newly edited version of Lifchitz’s Villancicos Rebeldes (Rebellious Villancicos). Written in 1988, this work was inspired by poetry dealing with political repression written by three Latin American poets: Circe Maia (from Uruguay); Carlos Changmarín (from Panama); and José Manuel Pintado (México).

The evening will conclude with a performance of the incidental music for Kathleen Masterson’s The Blood Orange. Ms. Masterson’s short story deals with the life of Sam Finkelstein, who escaped from Poland in 1938 right before the holocaust and was smuggled into the US from Canada. Once settled in New York in 1939, Finkelstein arranged for his future bride Miriam to also escape Europe and join him in this country. Actress Norma Fire – from the popular TV show Law & Order – will narrate this story from the lives of her lives who came to this country before the Holocaust, and of their relatives who did not.

Since 1980, North/South Consonance, Inc. has sponsored a yearly concert series in New York City featuring contemporary music from the Americas. It has also produced more than forty high-quality recordings. Its activities have been made possible with grants from, among others, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; the NYS Council on the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; Meet the composer/JPMorganChase Fund; the Cary Charitable Trust; the Aaron Copland Fund; the Music Performance Trust Funds; and contributions by numerous generous individuals.

Further information about the concert activities and recordings sponsored by North/South Consonance, Inc. is available at http://www.northsouthmusic.org


Christ & St. Stephen's Church Auditorium
120 West 69th Street
Between Broadway & Columbus
Free Admission
212.663.7566
www.northsouthmusic.org

ABOUT MAX LIFCHITZ:

Born in México City, Max Lifchitz has resided in New York City since 1966. He attended The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin Fellowships. Lifchitz also trained at Harvard University, the Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood. His composition teachers included Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna and Darius Milhaud.

Lifchitz has taught at Columbia University, the Manhattan School of Music, New School University's Eugene Lang College, and at SUNY Albany. He is the current Amos Eminent Scholar in Latin American Studies Columbus State University’s Center for International Studies.

Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1976 Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of 20th century music held in Rotterdam, Holland. He has performed in Europe, Latin America and throughout the US. He has recorded eight highly praised solo albums featuring piano music from the Americas. His creative activities have earned fellowships and awards from among others, the ASCAP, Ford and Guggenheim Foundations; the University of Michigan Society of Fellows; the Creative Artists Public Service Program of NYS; the NYS Council on the Arts; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

During 2005-06 Lifchitz appeared as pianist at the Grand Canyon Music Festival in Arizona and the Nuovi Spazi Musicali Festival in Rome, Italy. He also guest conducted the Houston Contemporary Music Ensemble in Houston, TX; the Percusionistas de Buenos Aires and the Ensamble Rosario in Argentina.

Co-sponsored by The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York and PAMAR in honor of the First Annual Latin American Cultural Week.