BERNSTEIN IN BLACK AND WHITE Kicks Off Copland House's 2012-13 Season, 9/8

Related: Copland House, Bernstein Black and White

Spirituals, several premieres, the sounds of Broadway, appearances by two Pulitzer Prize-winners and five Copland House resident composers, and music inspired by the words of Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and William Shakespeare are among the highlights of Copland House's 2012-13 mainstage concert season, announced today.

The season, Copland House's fourth at Mount Kisco's majestic Merestead estate, includes nine performances, begins on August 5, 2012 and runs through June 2, 2013. "We are presenting a remarkable showcase of American musical creativity," explained Copland House's Artistic and Executive Director Michael Boriskin. "Listeners will travel musically from World War II-era Los Angeles and 1950s Broadway to the present-day Italian cinema, taking in even the heavens and outer space!"

Among the only ongoing series in the U.S. that exclusively showcases past and present American composers, the often sold-out series at Merestead has been hailed by The New York Times for its "reputation for quality" and "first-rate fare focused on the modern American Repertory," and Westchester magazine hailed the "award-winning Music from Copland House ensemble behind it, pushing for something great." Concerts combine mesmerizing performances by Music from Copland House, appearances by America's preeminent composers personally introducing their works and leading audience Q&As, and an intimate atmosphere where listeners can almost "touch" the music.

A special pre-season event on Sunday afternoon, August 5 at 3PM marks the launch of CULTIVATE, Copland House's all-scholarship, intensive, annual creative workshop & mentoring program for highly-gifted composers at the beginnings of their careers. The concert features the world premieres of five brand new works composed especially for the program.

The season's Opening Night Celebration takes place on Saturday evening, September 8 at 8PM with Bernstein in Black and White. Pianist Michael Boriskin will join Emmy Award-winning composer and pianist John Musto, a Copland House favorite, to perform Musto's dazzling two-piano version of the iconic West Side Story. Other classics from Candide and Wonderful Town, as well as tantalizing Bernstein rarities, will complete a dynamic and personal portrait of this American music giant.

Paul Moravec's stunning Tempest Fantasy won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize, and is the featured work on a program called "Sounds and Sweet Airs": Shakespeare in Music on Sunday afternoon, October 14 at 3PM. The concert also includes music by the inspiring and indefatigable David Amram, who wrote many scores for legendary director Joseph Papp's first Shakespeare in the Park productions, and Foor for Love by Copland House Resident Robert Xavier Rodriguez. Moravec will be on hand to discuss the Bard's influence on his music.

Sounds of the American Riviera: German Emigres in Hollywood, on Sunday, November 18 at 3PM, showcases southern California's brilliant gathering of composers, conductors, and other musicians who fled Nazi tyranny before and during World War II turning the region in to a hotbed of creativity. Featured are works of Kurt Weill, Ernst Toch, Hanns Eisler, Ingolf Dahl, Franz Waxman, and other renowned émigrés who transformed the music world and influenced two generations of American composers. Composer Arnold Schoenberg's son Lawrence and music historian and Schoenberg student Pia Gilbert re-create that vibrant milieu and lead an audience Q&A.

Hol' de Light, on Sunday, December 2 at 3PM, revels in the rich tradition of African-American spirituals, hymns, and art songs by Duke Ellington, Scott Joplin, Harry T. Burleigh, William Grant Still, and others. Copland House's first holiday program features renowned baritone James Martin, who has captivated Copland House audiences in previous appearances, and will guide this festive musical panorama.

From Stravinsky to Sophia Loren is a multi-media collaboration with the Jacob Burns Film Center's

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