Antara Ensemble in William Foster McDaniel’s 'Duke Ellington Medley for Piano and String Orchestra' Dec. 4, 8 PM at Saint Peter's Church at Citicorp, NYC

Antara Ensemble

Performs works by Nielsen, Mozart, Shostakovich &

William Foster McDaniel

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

Saint Peter’s Church at Citicorp

619 Lexington Avenue at 54^th St., NYC

  

On Tuesday, December 4 at 8:00 p.m., at Saint Peter’s Church at Citicorp, 619 Lexington Avenue and 54^th Street, New York City, conductor/flutist Harold Jones will lead the Antara Ensemble in a program to include Carl Nielsen’s Little Suite in a Minor, Op. 1 for String Orchestra (Harold Jones, conductor); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto in D Major for Flute and Orchestra, K. 314 (Harold Jones, flute soloist; William Foster McDaniel, guest conductor); Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1, Op. 35, for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra (Irena Portenko, pianist; Harold Jones, conductor); and William Foster McDaniel’s Duke Ellington Medley for Piano and String Orchestra (William Foster McDaniel, pianist; Harold Jones conductor).   

           

Tickets are $25; seniors (62 and over) and students $20.  For information and reservations: (212) 866-2545.

The ANTARA ENSEMBLE, now in its 19^th season, was formed by Harold Jones to bring quality classical music at affordable prices to the culturally diverse neighborhoods of New York. 

A native of Chicago and a graduate of Juilliard, HAROLD JONES has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Tully Hall, CAMI Hall and other New York venues, Jordan Hall in Boston, and throughout the U.S., Europe and Taiwan.  He has performed as flute soloist with The Bach Aria Orchestra, American Symphony, New York Sinfonietta, Brooklyn Philharmonia, National Orchestral Association, and is on the faculties of the Westchester Conservatory of Music and Manhattanville College.  His recordings on the Antara label include two LPs and three CDs: “Let Us Break Bread Together”, “Just As I Am” and “Lil’ Lite O’ Mine”.

Composer/conductor WILLIAM FOSTER McDANIEL received a Master of Music degree from Boston University; he also studied as a Fulbright Scholar with Jacques Fevrier in Paris.  In musical theater, Mr. McDaniel has served as conductor for the Broadway and National Touring companies of Ain’t Misbehavin’, Timbuktu, Bubbling Brown Sugar and of off-Broadway’s The Fantasticks.  His larger works have been performed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles.

Ukrainian-born pianist IRENA PORTENKO debuted as soloist with the Ukrainian National Orchestra at the age of 8.  She has since performed as recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe.  Her passion for the music of contemporary composers has led her to champion the music of  many living American, Ukrainian and Chinese composers.  Ms. Portenko gave a critically acclaimed debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall performing Chopin’s 24 Etudes, and she has since released a critically acclaimed CD of Chopin Etudes on the Blue Griffin Label.

 #  #  #

The Susan Gurman Agency, LLC
William Foster McDaniel

Bio

William Foster McDaniel is a pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He began his career in musical theatre as pianist-conductor of Off-Broadway’s long-running THE FANTASTICKS. He then served as Assistant Musical Director of the Broadway Production and National Tour of TIMBUKTU! and Musical Director/Conductor of National Tours of BUBBLIN’ BROWN SUGAR and AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’. Since his original involvement with the show, Mr. McDaniel has musical directed over 50 productions of AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ and has come to be regarded as its premiere interpreter.

...

With Edward C. Sullivan, Mr. McDaniel is a co-author of ADAM, a new musical based on the life of Adam Clayton Powell. As a classical musician, Mr McDaniel appears frequently in solo recitals and chamber concerts featuring his own compositions as well as works from the standard concert repertoire. His compositions have received performances by the Philharmonia of Greensboro, the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, the Mozart Society Orchestra at Harvard, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, The United States Army Band Brass Quintet and the Antara Ensemble of New York.

Mr. McDaniel holds a Bachelor of Music from Capital University in Columbus Ohio and a Master Of Music from Boston University. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Paris.