Neil Alexander: Solo Piano featuring the Rite Of Spring

Pianist & composer Neil Alexander honors the centennial of the premier of Igor Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" (The Rite of Spring) with a NYC performance, part of the "100 Years of Spring" concert tour. The performance will take place at Zeb's, a well known spot for jazz in NY. Zeb's is located at 223 West 28th Street (2nd Floor) in New York, NY. The performance will also be live streamed on the internet (website TBA).
About the Performance:
Almost no musical work has had such a powerful influence… Show more or evoked as much controversy as Igor Stravinsky's ballet score "The Rite of Spring". The work's premiere on May 29, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, was scandalous. In addition to the outrageous costumes, unusual choreography and bizarre story of pagan sacrifice, Stravinsky's musical innovations tested the patience of the audience to the fullest. In this edition of Milestones of the Millennium, we explore the history surrounding "The Rite of Spring," its infamous premiere and its tremendous impact on music ever since.
Neil 1st received a copy of Stravinsky's 4-hand rehearsal score in 1983 and performed the piece with other pianists between 1983 and 1995. The long process of condensing the piece for solo performance took place during this time. "My goal in creating a 2-hand arrangement is to bring the orchestral experience of the piece to the listener," says Neil. "The piano lets you get inside the work, makes it more personal while exposing the brilliant harmony." The first performance of the completed solo arrangement premiered in 2002 at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY.
In addition to featuring Neil's solo acoustic piano arrangement of "Le Sacre", the "100 Years of Spring " program includes works by Gershwin, Bartok, and excerpts from his new solo piano CD "Darn That Dream: Solo Piano Vol. 1".
Recorded at the Falcon in Marlboro, NY, "Darn That Dream" contains seven original compositions and four standards including two radically different passes at the Van Heusen/DeLange title track, an impressionistic reading of the Pat Metheny tune "Sirabhorn" and "My Foolish Heart," a song immortalized on piano by Bill Evans among others. The CD situates itself as a jazz recording, but Alexander's gestures are as likely to come from the classical world, and on occasion, from the becalmed realm of New Age. Composition and improvisation seem deeply intermingled. Some solo pianists prefer to paint exclusively with the piano's felt and wood. Alexander is not afraid of hammer and steel and the high peaks of the grand. His calling card is his intensity, his wholehearted willingness to embrace the dramatic range of the instrument.
People who buy their tickets in advance have the option to receive a one time download code good for downloading a digital copy of "Darn That Dream" complete with bonus material. Simply enter your email address when purchasing tickets.
"100 Years Of Spring" reaches out to bring live music to a variety of spaces - traditional venues as well as public gathering places such as Food & Farm Markets, vineyards, and botanic gardens. The tour started in June 2012 with a performance in Harrisburg PA and continues internationally thru 2013, with a special performance in Paris where The Rite of Spring originally premiered in 1913.
"100 Years of Spring" is a sponsored project of Artspire, a program of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. For additional information go to: www.100yearsofspring.org.

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