FROM SANDOVER
a short new opera by
Matt Aucoin
with libretto adapted from James Merrill’s epic poem
The Changing Light at Sandover.
With the composer/librettist at the piano, James Onstad tenor, Stewart Kramer baritone, Sofia Selowsky mezzo-soprano, Christopher Aaron Smith tenor,
and the Sandover String Quartet
plus Victoria Crutchfield, director/supertitlist.
watch From Sandover's final quartet here

Demetrius Spaneas, composer/tenor & baritone saxophone, clarinet
with Jed Distler, piano
Giuffre Sketches, for multi-reeds and piano
watch a beautiful, peaceful video featuring Demetrius

doors open at 5:45PM
$10 general admission
+ food / one drink minimum
Cash only
reservations: 212-989-9319

visit our events page for more info about upcoming events at the Cornelia Street Café.

RANDOM NOTES

I first met Matt Aucoin by sheer happenstance. We had just finished performing SImeon ten Holt's Canto Ostinato with four pianos live outdoors on Cornelia Street as part of Make Music New York on June 21st 2009, when time was made free for anyone who wanted to perform to come up and do so. A young, bushy haired virtuoso sat down and fearlessly sight-read some orchestral two-piano transcriptions, followed by some very accomplished jazz playing. "Who IS this guy," I wondered. Turned out to be Matt Aucoin, then 19-years-old, and clearly a major, major talent. I spontaneously asked him if he'd play the Beethoven Ninth Symphony four-hands later that summer during the Cornelia Street Café's first annual summer keyboard festival, and he agreed. Boy, did I struggle to keep up with Matt, and he was very patient with my senior moments in the last movement! Anyway, Matt recently had a performance of his first chamber opera at Harvard, where he studies music and poetry, and I'm proud that CCi and Serial Underground can provide a forum for its New York premier. What's more, there are going to be supertitles, a Cornelia Street Café first, I believe. I was with director and supertitlist Victoria Crutchfield last week at the café when she tried it out, and they work wonderfully well, as you'll see.

Similarly, I first worked with Demetrius Spaneas when he lent his soprano saxophone mastery to the 2007 Make Music New York performance of Terry Riley's In C. His decisive tone and infectious rhythm proved to be the performance's driving force, and right away I knew that this was a musician to be reckoned with. In April 2009 Demetrius played an extended solo set on Serial Underground, and we're thrilled to have him back.

When the year winds down, I tend to look back on highlights, and 2010 was not bad at all. Serial's new time slot makes me happy, as well as having guest hosted Q2's Hammered! throughout October. My solo piano CD Meditate with the Masters finally hits the stores and the download sites on January 11th 2011. Meeting new friends who seem as though they've been lifelong friends, like Laurie Verchomin. Our friends Mac and Anne Barnes brought us to Times Square Church back in February, and we've been going ever since. To get a taste of Pastor WIlliam Carrol's extraordinary sermons most Friday nights, visit here.What else? Oh yes, Célia and I have been together for 30 years and a few months, and we plan on at least another 30, give or take a few months!

A happy, joyful, healthy and safe holiday season to all of our friends and family. Enjoy the show!