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The Bernstein Mass Project
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Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 04/29/2009 - The Bernstein Mass Project
Most current program information 
CARNEGIE HALL AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC PRESENT
BERNSTEIN: THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS
SEPTEMBER 24–DECEMBER 13, 2008
THE BERNSTEIN MASS PROJECT
Creative Learning Project Exploring Leonard Bernstein’s Mass
Presented by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
Reflects and Honors Bernstein’s Role as an Extraordinary Educator in Two Programs
150 New York City Public School Students Perform Original Compositions Based on Mass’s Themes of Faith, Doubt, Tolerance, and Renewal of Tradition on
Sunday, October 19 in Zankel Hall
Hundreds of Students Perform Mass with Marin Alsop and the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, October 25
at United Palace Theater in Upper Manhattan
Follow the Students’ Progress—Watch Online Video at www.BernsteinFestival.org
This October, as part of Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic’s citywide festival, Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute will present the culminating events of The Bernstein Mass Project, an extensive creative learning project for New York City public school students. Reflecting and honoring Leonard Bernstein’s role as an extraordinary educator, The Bernstein Mass Project is a key component of the fall 2008 festival, bringing together hundreds of students to explore Bernstein’s 1971 work and its themes of faith, doubt, tolerance, and renewal of tradition.
“We are thrilled to engage New York’s students in this innovative creative learning project as part of Carnegie Hall’s Bernstein celebration,” said Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson. “Of his myriad roles—as conductor, composer, pianist, advocate, media pioneer—Lenny believed that his work as an educator was the most important of them all. With this project we hope to carry on his extraordinary work and to continue Carnegie Hall’s ongoing commitment to bring inspirational music education to our community and make great music as widely accessible as possible.”
Starting this past spring and continuing in the fall, New York City public school students engaged in a variety of educational initiatives created by The Weill Music Institute, exploring Bernstein’s Mass and its themes. For the project’s grand finale, participating students will come together for two programs: the first on Sunday, October 19, when original student compositions inspired by Bernstein’s Mass will be performed by approximately 150 students in Zankel Hall, and the second on Saturday, October 25, when a choir of hundreds of young people will perform the Mass with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Marin Alsop—a Bernstein protégée—at the United Palace Theater in Upper Manhattan.
“The Mass project offers students the opportunity to be engaged in what we hope will be a transformative learning process,” said Sarah Johnson, Director of The Weill Music Institute. “Working with the professional composers and musicians will provide students with an environment to cultivate their individual creativity. When you give young people the opportunity to perform alongside world-class artists, that experience establishes a compelling interest in and relationship to the arts that we hope will last their lifetimes.”
Classroom work from this past spring as well as the ongoing rehearsal and preparation process for the October concerts is being filmed by a documentary crew for video segments appearing on the Bernstein festival website, www.BernsteinFestival.org (click on “The Mass Project”). This online companion to Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds also features up-to-date information on citywide events and a multimedia survey of Leonard Bernstein’s musical life, including interactive timelines, slide shows, audio clips, and video featuring Bernstein, his family, colleagues, and friends.
New York high school students participating in The Bernstein Mass Project. For high resolution images, please contact the Carnegie Hall Public Affairs Office at 212-903-9750 or publicaffairs@carnegiehall.org.
About Bernstein’s Mass
Focusing on themes of faith, doubt, tolerance, and renewal of tradition, Leonard Bernstein’s Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers, is a work for large forces. The piece requires a large pit orchestra, two choruses, a Broadway-sized cast, a rock band, and even a marching band. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Mass was created for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on September 8, 1971. The piece poses questions about the role of religion and the church during this time in history. It also provides listeners with an eclectic mix of musical genres, including rock, jazz, Broadway, blues, marching band, opera, and hymns. The original performance was directed by Gordon Davidson with texts by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Schwartz (with four lines written by Paul Simon), sets by Oliver Smith, costumes by Frank Thompson, and choreography by Alvin Ailey. Since its premiere, although receiving mixed reviews, the work has drawn a huge following, especially among young people at the time of its premiere who identified with its themes and the problems of the time that were addressed in the Mass.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop, a Bernstein protégée who has conducted Mass five times, said, “Leonard Bernstein, for me, was the greatest risk-taker in 20th-century classical music. He thrived on conflict, and this is nowhere more evident than in his most controversial composition, Mass. Even the response to Mass was divisive: the public loved it but most of the critics hated it. The vitriolic reaction to the 1971 premiere caused him great heartache, because this work, more than any other, contains the essence of this complex man and artist.”
In addition to the October 25 Mass Project performance, Bernstein’s Mass will also be performed in concert at Carnegie Hall by Ms. Alsop, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus on Friday, October 24 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Both performances will be directed by Kevin Newbury.
October 19: The Bernstein Mass Project: A Choral Exploration
The five original choral anthems heard on this free October 19 program in Zankel Hall will be inspired by Bernstein’s Mass and composed and performed by approximately 150 New York City middle and high school students. Their performance will also include specially selected repertoire, including excerpts from the Mass.
A Choral Exploration began with text development workshops led by teaching artist Anna Klein designed to elicit thoughts and feelings that contemporary high school students identify with, connecting to themes from Bernstein’s Mass. Through guided discussions, approximately 30 students in four different school groups drew from their personal experiences and everyday lives to create lyrics for their compositions. After creating texts, they worked together to create original melodies and musical accompaniment with the aid of composers Tom Cabaniss, James Blachly, and Jim Papoulis. The 30 students, who wrote lyrics, will be joined by approximately 80 classmates for performances of their new compositions on Sunday, October 19 at 3:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall. In addition, members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus will participate in this program, with creative work on their original song to begin in August.
“I think what Bernstein was interested in was a collision of all of the things that he loved: the world of the orchestra—which in this case was in the pit—but also Broadway, musical theater-style singing, as well as rock ‘n’ roll,” said Tom Cabaniss, regarding Bernstein’s motive behind writing this piece. “He was very interested in folk and pop and in all of these new, experimental forms. It was a piece that embraced the world that he was living in, the late 1960s.”
Schools participating in A Choral Exploration are Frank Sinatra High School (30-20 Thomson Ave., Queens), Highbridge Voices (1360 Merriam Ave., Bronx), Songs of Solomon (151 W. 136 St., Manhattan), and Wadleigh High School (215 W. 114 St., Manhattan), as well as the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
October 25: The Bernstein Mass Project
The Bernstein Mass Project will offer hundreds of New York City public high school and middle school students the experience of performing Bernstein’s Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers with a top-tier orchestra, chorus, and conductor. Beginning this fall, students from nine schools—many of whom will be learning about Bernstein and experiencing his music for the first time—will begin intensive rehearsals for the final performance. On Saturday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m., they will join the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and conductor Marin Alsop for a community performance of the Mass at the United Palace Theater in Upper Manhattan.
Schools participating in The Mass Project are Bayside High School (32-34 Corp Kennedy St., Queens), Brandeis High School (145 W. 84th St., Manhattan), Fordham High School (500 East Fordham Rd. Bronx, NY), Frank Sinatra High School (30-20 Thomson Ave., Queens), The Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210Q (93-11 101 Ave., Queens), Songs of Solomon (151 W. 136 St., Manhattan), and Talent Unlimited High School (317 E. 67 St., Manhattan), as well as All City High School Chorus (215 W. 114 St., Manhattan) and Highbridge Voices (1360 Merriam Ave., Bronx).
The Bernstein Mass Project: Project Leadership
Composer and educator Thomas Cabaniss writes for opera, theater, dance, film, and the concert stage. He has served as Composer-in-Residence and conductor for the American Dance Festival's Young Choreographers & Composers Program, and his dance works have been performed at Danspace, the American Dance Festival, the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, and Central Park Summerstage. He has been on the faculty of The Juilliard School since 1998 and is active in arts education, having served as Director of Education for the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel and Music Animateur for the Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach.
In the fall of 2007, composer James Blachly was the musical assistant to the Berliner Philharmoniker’s education team during The Rite of Spring Project presented as part of Carnegie Hall’s November 2007 Berlin in Lights festival. Mr. Blachly has also written incidental music for The Weill Music Institute, and is the author of the KidsNotes provided at each Carnegie Hall Family Concert. In May 2008, Mr. Blachy’s Plus Sum, commissioned by The Academy—A Program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department Of Education—was premiered by 55 public students from two Academy schools in Zankel Hall.
New York City-based Jim Papoulis composes, orchestrates, and conducts music for dance, film, ensembles, and choirs. He has written for and conducted hundreds of live shows worldwide for musicians and artists that include symphonies, quartets, pop bands, gospel and children’s choirs, and top talents Aretha Franklin, Shania Twain, Bette Midler, Faith Hill, and Maroon 5. Mr. Papoulis’ album CAN YOU HEAR features artists such as Martha Wash, the Tokyo String Quartet, Geoffrey Holder, and Odetta. Hyatt Hotels sponsored a successful tour of Sounds of a Better World concerts conceived and conducted by Mr. Papoulis, with CD and concert proceeds benefiting children’s music and mentoring programs through The Foundation for Small Voices.
Last season, Anna Klein served as the Text Development Workshop Leader for Berlin in Lights’ The Rite of Spring Project working with students and the Berliner Philharmoniker education team to create original new compositions inspired by Stravinsky’s masterpiece. Within the New York City Public School system, Ms. Klein has worked as a teaching artist with a focus on at-risk students, helping them to express themselves through the arts. Ms. Klein’s most recent work, Becoming Natasha, adapted by Victor Malarek’s book, “The Natasha’s,” tells the stories of three female victims of human trafficking and was most recently showcased at the Culture Project’s Women Center Stage.
About the Artists
Hailed as one of the world's leading conductors for her artistic vision and commitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra, mirroring her ongoing success in the United Kingdom as principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony since 2002. Since becoming the BSO's Music Director, she has garnered national and international attention for her innovative programming and artistry. In 2005, she was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first and only conductor ever to receive this most prestigious American award. She has committed $100,000 of this award to sustain the OrchKids program, an education component to BSO’s vision of expanding the Orchestra’s relevance within the city’s broad and diverse communities, through the critical first few years of implementation and growth. Most recently, she was honored with a 2007 European Women of Achievement Award, presented to individuals whose vision, courage and determination have made a major impact on increasing the influence of women on European affairs. A native of New York City, Ms. Alsop attended Yale University and received her master's degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, her conducting career was launched when she was a prizewinner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition in New York, and in the same year was awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at the Tanglewood Music Center.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world's orchestras. Acclaimed for its uncompromising pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO has attracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deep bonds throughout Maryland through innovative education and community outreach initiatives. The Orchestra made musical history in September 2007, when Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the BSO's 12th music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. With her highly praised artistic vision, her dynamic musicianship and her commitment to accessibility in classical music, Ms. Alsop's directorship has ushered in a new era for the BSO and its audiences.
The Morgan State University Choir is one of the nation’s most prestigious university choral ensembles including The University Choir, which is over 140 voices strong, and The Morgan Singers—approximately 30 voices strong. While classical, gospel, and contemporary popular music comprise the choir’s repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance. One of the Choir’s most historic moments came with the opportunity to sing under the baton of Robert Shaw, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and joined by Jessye Norman and others in Carnegie Hall’s One Hundredth Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson.
Founded in 1992 with a mission of helping children of all backgrounds realize their potential as musicians and as individuals, the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy (BYCA) now stands as one of the country's leading youth choruses, and the only voice-based after-school music academy in New York City. BYCA provides New York City children with an unparalleled program of vocal and musicianship training. BYCA helps its young singers develop the skills, discipline, and concentration needed to achieve success in music and in life. The joyful experience of singing and performing together helps children discover music making as a means of deep and powerful expression and communication.
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Presented by Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic—Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, September 24–December 13, 2008—celebrates a quintessential New Yorker and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. Renowned nationally and internationally as a leading musical figure in his own lifetime, most notably as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969 and Laureate Conductor from 1969 to 1990, Leonard Bernstein brought his own particular New World sensibility to classical music. Equally at home in a Broadway theater (in such legendary musicals as West Side Story) or the concert hall, Bernstein—who performed at Carnegie Hall over 400 times and with the New York Philharmonic more than 1,200 times during his career—had an enthusiasm for and understanding of music far beyond the classical realm, extending into jazz, world music, American song, and 1960s pop and rock. His charismatic personality and remarkable communication skills through both words and music made him a natural ambassador for music as well as an international celebrity. Through television, Bernstein influenced millions of viewers, sparking excitement and love for classical music that remains with them to this day. With this festival, Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic honor an extraordinary artist, revered as conductor, composer, educator, advocate, and media pioneer.
A number of New York cultural partners will broaden the reach of the festival, presenting Bernstein-themed performances, film screenings, and panel discussions. Joining Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic in these special festivities are Church of St. Ignatius Loyola; The Jewish Museum; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; New York City Center; The Paley Center for Media; Thirteen/WNET, which will nationally broadcast Carnegie Hall’s all-Bernstein Opening Night Gala concert on PBS’ Great Performances on October 29; and WNYC, which presents “Our Lenny,” an 13-day multiplatform festival from September 24 to October 6 that celebrates the radio station’s unique and long-standing relationship with the maestro.
For complete festival program information, please visit www.bernsteinfestival.org. This online companion to Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds features up-to-date information on the citywide events, press releases, and a multimedia survey of Leonard Bernstein’s musical life, including interactive timelines, slide shows, audio clips, and video featuring Bernstein, his family, colleagues, and friends.
The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
The Weill Music Institute creates broad-reaching music education programs, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible through creative musical interaction and inspiring lifelong learning. Educational programs are woven into the fabric of the Carnegie Hall concert season, with opportunities for preschoolers to adults, new listeners to emerging professional musicians. With its access to the world’s greatest artists and latest technologies, The Weill Music Institute is uniquely positioned to inspire the next generation of music lovers, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and shape the evolution of music education itself. The Weill Music Institute annually serves over 115,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in New York City metropolitan area, across the United States, and around the world.
Programs of The Weill Music Institute include: Family Concerts at Carnegie Hall and free Neighborhood Concerts in all five boroughs, bringing music to thousands within the greater New York City community each year; school-based programs that reach over 50,000 New York City and area students each year including in-depth music education curriculum for pre-school through kindergarten-age children (The McGraw-Hill Companies CarnegieKids); students in grades 1-2 (Musical Explorers), grades 3-5 (LinkUP!), middle school (Perelman American Roots), and high school (Citi Global Encounters); and Professional Training Workshops that connect emerging young musicians with internationally renowned artists. The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education—provides extensive performance opportunities and intensive music education training in an innovative new two-year fellowship for post-graduate musicians. The Weill Music Institute also brings its educational programs to national and international audiences, using web-based and distance-learning technology.
Program Information
Sunday, October 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Zankel Hall
THE BERNSTEIN MASS PROJECT: A CHORAL EXPLORATION
Original choral anthems inspired by Bernstein’s Mass, composed and sung by New York City middle and high school students. The performance will also include specially chosen repertoire, including excerpts from the Bernstein Mass.
Tickets: Free (see below)
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Saturday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.
The United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway at 175th Street
THE BERNSTEIN MASS PROJECT
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, Music Director and Conductor
Kevin Newbury, Director
Jubilant Sykes, Celebrant
Asher Wulfman, Boy Soprano
Ryan Kiernan, Altar Boy
Street Chorus
Morgan State University Choir
Eric Conway, Director
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun, Founder and Artistic Director
Leslie Stifelman, Music Supervisor
Sean Curran, Musical Staging
Alan Adelman, Lighting Designer
Acme Sound Partners, Sound Design
Jessica Jahn, Costume Consultant
Casting by: Pat McCorkle, CSA
Assistant Director to be announced
Set Coordinator to be announced
BERNSTEIN Mass
The project will culminate with the opportunity for hundreds of New York City students to perform live with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, Morgan State University Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at the United Palace Theater.
Tickets: $15
For complete festival program information, please visit www.bernsteinfestival.org. This online companion to Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds features up-to-date information on citywide events and a multimedia survey of Leonard Bernstein’s musical life, including interactive timelines, slide shows, audio clips, and video featuring Bernstein, his family, colleagues, and friends.
The Bernstein Mass Project is generously underwritten by Bob and Martha Lipp.
Major funding for Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds has been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Alice Tully Foundation, American Express, Bob and Martha Lipp, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Nash Family Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. A. Alfred Taubman.
Programs of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall are generously supported by the City of New York: Office of the Mayor, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York City Council; and by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
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Ticket Information
October 19 at 3:00 p.m.
A limited number of free tickets will be available beginning on October 19 at 12:00 noon at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street. Please contact CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 for more information.
October 25 at 3:00 p.m.
Beginning September 2, tickets, priced at $15, will be available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, www.carnegiehall.org. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the United Palace Theater Box Office, 4140 Broadway at 175th Street, beginning on Monday, October 20 at 11:00 a.m.
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