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Melodia Women’s Choir and All-Women Orchestra Offer Rare Messiaen May 16, NYC


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Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC will perform a rare all-female performance of Olivier Messiaen’s “Trois petites liturgies de la presence divine” (Three Short Liturgies of the Divine Presence) on May 16, 2009 at 8 pm. The concert will be at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Ave. (at 84th Street) in New York City.

The evening’s program is titled “Visions of Eternity” and is conducted by Cynthia Powell. It will be performed by Melodia’s 38 choral singers accompanied by 24 female instrumentalists, including Kyung-A Yoo on piano, Miranda Cuckson on violin; and Francoise Murail on the unique onde Martenot.

The concert, performed for the first time with all-women musicians, is taking place on the centenary of Messiaen’s birth. “Trois petites liturgies,” written for women’s choir, piano, ondes Martenot, percussion and strings, premiered in Paris in 1945.

The May 16 concert by Melodia also features the U.S. premiere of an arrangement of Messiaen’s “L’eau au maximum de hauteur” from “La fête des belles eaux,” adapted for ondes Martenot, strings, piano, and flute, by Claude S. Levine. Additional highlights of the program are “Messe a trois voix,” by Andre Caplet; “Cantique de Jean Racine,” by Gabriel Faure, and “Lament, In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen,” by Reza Vali (Naila Aziz, soprano).

Visions of Eternity is presented at Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue at
84th Street, NYC in collaboration with the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets are available at www.melodiawomenschoir.org or www.brownpapertickets.com – 800-838-3006. For information, call 212-252-4134.

Visions of Eternity is made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; and by the Florence Gould Foundation.

Praised by WNYC for its “elegance and ringing tones,” Melodia Women’s Choir is devoted to exploring, discovering and creating music for women’s choir and performs classical, contemporary and premiere works. Melodia commissions women composers to create new works for the choir, and has recently commissioned Becca Schack, Allison Sniffin (Meredith Monk Ensemble), and Chris Lastovicka, whose new work will be premiered in New York in fall 2009. Melodia has appeared twice in the Symphony Space Wall to Wall marathons, has performed at Merkin Concert Hall and at the Surrogate’s Courthouse, Manhattan, as guest artists at the NYC Comptroller’s celebration of Women’s History Month (2008 & 2009).

Melodia was founded in 2003 by Jenny Clarke, an arts consultant who has worked with the American Music Center, Symphony Space, and Queens Theatre in the Park. Cynthia Powell, Melodia’s Artistic Director and conductor since its inception, also serves as Artistic Director of the Stonewall Chorale. Equally at home as a pianist and organist, she has toured with Meredith Monk’s opera, “Atlas” and “Celebration Service” in Europe, at the Spoleto USA Festival, the Walker Arts Center and Lincoln Center 2000 Festival.
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Event Details:
Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC
“Visions of Eternity”
May 16, 2009 at 8 pm
Church of St. Ignatius Loyola
980 Park Avenue (at 84th St.)
Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at door
Buy: www.brownpapertickets

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola



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