Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) Announces Winter, Spring 2013 Artists and Venues For Midtown Concerts Series

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Free Weekly Thursday Afternoon Concerts Continue at Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, Moving to Saint Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church For May and June

New York, New York, United States., February 15, 2013 - (PressReleasePoint) - Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) has announced the winter and spring 2013 artists for Midtown Concerts, its ongoing series of 35-minute early music concerts in midtown Manhattan featuring soloists and ensembles from the U.S. and abroad. Concerts are held every Thursday at 1:15 p.m., and admission is free. 

The series, for which GEMS assumed administrative responsibility as part of its Fifth Anniversary season celebration, commenced on October 11, 2012 at Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church at the Citigroup Center, Lexington Avenue at 54^th Street, and will continue there through April 2013 (with the exception of the March 28 concert, which will take place at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 122 East 88^th Street, at Lexington Avenue). Starting in May, Midtown Concerts will shift to the Chapel at Saint Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church (St. Bart’s), 325 Park Avenue (at 51^st Street).
 
GEMS Executive Director Gene Murrow states, “Midtown Concerts is a fine series that offers music lovers an opportunity to hear many of the best and most exciting early music ensembles in the city at no charge, in beautiful venues with excellent acoustics. We are very grateful to Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church at Citigroup Center, where the series moved last October, and look forward to our return to the intimate Chapel at St. Bart’s.”
 
Artists appearing on the series are chosen by competitive application. New for this year are a large number of high-quality emerging ensembles, including some formed by recent graduates of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Program.
 
One such upcoming program – “Groove Theory” on March 21, with New York Baroque Incorporated and violinist Monica Huggett – will explore the styles of jazz, rock, and folk in the music of the 17th and 18th century. Another unusual program, ALBA – Sketches of Spain, will examine Iberian music from the medieval and renaissance eras, a time when Christians, Jews and Muslims co-existed in a rare harmony.
 
Midtown Concerts offers workers in midtown as well as the general public the opportunity to enjoy high-quality performances of music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods in a convenient, comfortable, acoustically superb venue. Tickets are not necessary; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Free-will donations are gratefully accepted at the door.
 
Midtown Concerts is being presented with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; The Reed Foundation; and private donations. More information, including a list of dates and artists, can be found at www.midtownconcerts.org or www.gemsny.org, or by calling 212/866-0468.

About GEMS
Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc. (GEMS) is a not-for-profit corporation that enhances the quality and financial stability of participating artists and organizations by:

• providing administrative, marketing, financial, and other support services to professional and amateur performing groups, institutions, presenters, and other organizations interested in early music;
• securing paid touring engagements throughout North America for New York-based early music artists;
• increasing audience size and diversity by enhanced publicity and access to early music events; and
• educating the public and the media about early music.

Founded in 2007 by a small group of leading figures in New York musical circles to serve and promote New York’s early music community, GEMS has, in this short time:

• presented 91 New York City ensembles in concert, including an annual fall series showcasing established and emerging artists;
• provided administrative, marketing, and logistical services to more than 144 NYC cultural organizations and artists;
• exhibited at 14 national arts conferences and booked 101 paid nationwide engagements for NYC musical ensembles via its GEMS Live! Agency;
• provided well-paid engagements under Local 802 union contracts to dozens of professional musicians;
• served tens of thousands of audience members (more than 1,800 of whom received free tickets);
• taught more than 320 children the basics of music through its S’Cool Sounds semester-long elementary school teaching programs; and
• helped launch several new early music initiatives, including OperaOmnia, 4x4 Baroque Concerts, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, and Sinfonia New York.

The result of these and other efforts is the recognition by musicians, audiences, and patrons that New York has reasserted its position as a major center of early music activity in the world.
 
With a budget of over $350,000, a Board of nine distinguished professionals, and a staff of six, GEMS is supported by The New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, several foundations, and a large roster of individual donors.  www.gemsny.org