THE WASHINGTON SQUARE MUSIC FESTIVAL
What our city lacks in a crystal clear view of every star in the sky, it more than makes up for in the sensory stimulation offered by the Washington Square Music Festival. The free, eclectic, daylight-to-dusk-to-dark outdoor series — which has already given us two Lutz Rath-conducted Festival Chamber Orchestra concerts in June — closes out its season on July 7 with a program celebrating American jazz. Founder Ron Wasserman conducts his 17-piece New York Jazzharmonic, with JP Joffre (bandoneon) and vocalist Elvy Yost as the guests. Selections include Dizzy Gillespie’s “He Beeped When He should Have Bopped,” a new arrangement of “The Star Spangled Banner” (its John Philip Sousa version) and a recreation of Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall version of “Sing, Sing, Sing.” The music of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Woody Herman, Count Basie and Scott Joplin will also be celebrated, along with a preview of the Jazzharmonic’s upcoming 2015-2016 season.
Free. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Tues., July 7, 8 p.m. in Washington Square Park (Fifth Ave./Waverly Place, btw. W. Fourth & Macdougal Sts.). Rainspace: NYU’s Frederick Loewe Theatre (35 W. Fourth St. at Greene St.). Visit washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org or call 212-252-3621. Also visit nyjazzharmonic.org.
SUMMER MUSIC IN CHELSEA
One good classic deserves a program full of them — when the Summer Music in Chelsea series returns to the beautiful, serene, St. Peter’s Chelsea. Gemma New will conduct the New Amsterdam Summer Orchestra, welcoming cellist Stephen Fang as the guest soloist. Selections include Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” (overture), Saint-Saens’ “Cello Concerto #1” and, to celebrate the bicentennial of its composition, Schubert’s “Symphony No. 3 in D Major.” The concert series returns to St. Peter’s on Sept. 15, with the Summer Orchestra conducted by Tong Chen in a program of Schumann, Sarasate and Beethoven.
Thurs., July 9, 7:30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.). Suggested Donation: $10 ($5 for seniors/students). Concert proceeds benefit the food pantry at St. Peter’s. For info: 212-929-2390 or email mic@stpeterschelsea.com.
—By Scott Stiffler
