Concerts featuring music by Virgil Thompson, Ned Rorem, Nadia Boulanger, François Couperin, and Claude Debussy will be hosted by La Maison Française of New York University, located at 16 Washington Mews (at University Place), on Monday, October 1, and Friday, October 12, both at 8 p.m. The concerts are free and open to the public, but reservations are strongly suggested. Please call 212.998.8750.
On Monday, October 1, at 8 p.m., Promenade avec Gertrude Stein will feature soprano Sylvie Robert and pianist Dimitri Vassilakis, and a program which includes many musical works that highlight Steins texts, including Thompsons Preciosilla, Paul Bowles April; and Norems I am rose; and other works such as a widow by John Cage, with e.e. cummmings text; Albert Roussels a flower, with James Joyces text; and La Dame de Montecarlo by Francis Poulenc, with text by Jean Cocteau.
Robert, who currently lives in Argentina, studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Elisabeth Soderstrom. She has recorded the songs of Boulanger for the Naxos label. Vassilakis has been a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain since 1992; he recorded Martin Matalons Dos formas del tiempo in addition to Le Scorpion, for which the Académie Charles-Cros awarded him the Grand Prix du disque in 2004.
On Friday, October 12, at 8 p.m., a concert featuring works by Couperin, Darius Milhaud, Henri Dutilleuz, and Claude Debussy will take place, with flutist Jayn Rosenfeld and pianist Bernard Rose. Rosenfeld, who teaches flute at Princeton, is a member of The New York New Music Ensemble and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Rose has toured the U.S. under the auspices of Young Concert Artists and has served as musical director of the New York Community Opera Company. Recently he co-founded the Concert Artists of Chappaqua and has performed frequently at Bargemusic in Brooklyn.