SaratogaArtsFest presents special encore performance Oct. 24
In response to numerous requests for a repeat performance of Music and Motion, a dance and music performance that premiered to a standing ovation this past June at SaratogaArtsFest 2010, festival organizers will offer an encore presentation Sunday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. in the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College.
The encore will feature two selections from the original performance- Addio (String Quartet #6) and a dance and music piece titled Swan Song. The music of both pieces was written by renowned composer Richard Danielpour and
will be performed by the acclaimed Hyperion String Quartet.
The choreography for Swan Song was created bySkidmore dance professor Debra Fernandez, who collaborated closely with Danielpour on all aspects of the production.
"The performance last June was artistically exquisite and received an enormously positive response from the audience," said Marie Glotzbach, president of SaratogaArtsFest board of directors. "After numerous requests to restage this performance, we decided to offer excerpts as an encore this fall."
As with the original performance, the event will take place in the Zankel Music Center's Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall.The hall itself is an important element of Swan Song. In choreographing the work,Fernandez was inspired by the possibilities provided by the three-story glass wall behind the stage, and she used it to incorporate "life beyond the stage" as a central theme of the piece.
Noted Mary Ellen O'Loughlin, executive director of SaratogaArtsFest, "We are fortunate to have such stellar talent participating in this event. This is a great opportunity to experience a world-class performance, and a wonderful example of the type of collaborative art that this festival strives to make possible."
Danielpour, a Grammy Award winner, is one of the most influential and sought-after composers of his generation. Fernandez, who has taught dance at Skidmore since 1991, has choreographed a wide range of works for dance, theater, and opera. The Hyperion String Quartet, now based in Saratoga Springs, has been describedby the journal Classical Voice of North Carolina as "a single, living breathing organism, playing as one instrument, bringing grand and glorious life to the music."
The one-hour performance will be followed by a reception offering an opportunity to meet the artists.
General admission is $25, with a $10 discount for those who have a 2010 SaratogaArtsFest ARTSPASS or ARTSPASS wallet card. There will be a "student rush" beginning at 4:45 p.m., during which anyone with a student I.D. card can purchase a ticket for $5.
All proceeds from the event will support SaratogaArtsFest, which will present its fifth annual citywide celebration of the arts June 9-12, 2011. To purchase tickets visit http://www.saratogaartsfest.org/ or call 518-580-8010.
