Sybarite5 @the cell: w/ special guests Blythe Gaissert, Djordje Nesic, & Sean Ritenauer
SYBARITE5 RETURNS HOME TO NYC FOR TWO CONCERTS @THE CELL
w/NYC PREMIERES AND NEW COLLABORATIONS
November 6 & 7, 2014, 8:00pm
@the cell, 338 w 23rd St, NYC (btwn 8th & 9th)
Acclaimed string quintet Sybarite5 continues their 2014 residency with groundbreaking collaborations at the cell in Chelsea, NYC. The concerts include reimagined works by Frederic Rzewski and Emmy-award winner Glen Roven. Three distinguished guest artists will join Sybarite5: mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert from the Metropolitan Opera, pianist Djordje Nesic, and percussionist Sean Ritenauer, who frequently performs with the New York Philharmonic.
Rzewski's intense work, Coming Together combines an instrumental score with chilling narration, the text of which comes from letters written by an inmate by Attica prison inmate Sam Melville who was one of the leaders of the 1971 Attica riots. Roven's sweeping new work Goodnight Moon derives its text from the popular children's book of the same name. In addition to these collaborative performances, Sybarite5 will perform works from its eclectic repertoire, including Radiohead, Piazzolla and recent commissions from Andy Akiho and Shawn Conley.
"Their rock star status is well deserved. Their classically honed technique mixed with grit and all out passionate attack transfixes the audience..."
That is how the Sarasota Herald Tribune described Sybarite5, the first string quintet ever selected as a winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and Sylvia Ann Hewlett Adventurous Artist Prize. Comprised of Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violins; Angela Pickett, viola; Laura Metcalf, cello; and Louis Levitt, bass, Sybarite5 has taken audiences by storm all across the US, forever changing the perception of chamber music performance. From the moment their bows hit the strings, this quintet of talented, diverse musicians takes the audience on an exciting ride that engages the senses and redefines the rules.
