The Arts Council of Princeton presents the Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble in an evening of music that bridges and morphs jazz, classical chamber music, tango and folk music into one cohesive and individual sound. Pianist Steve Hudson will be joined by Jody Redhage on cello, Zach Brock on violin, and Martin Urbach on percussion.

Steve Hudson is a pianist and composer based in New York City whose style embraces the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. His latest release, “Galactic Diamonds,” features Hudson’s genre bending compositions for violin, cello, piano, and drums. He tours the US, Canada, and Europe with the Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble, the Outer Bridge Ensemble, and a variety of other groups. Some of the musicians he has shared the stage with include Steven Bernstein, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, Oscar Noriega, and Claire Daly.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for members, students, and seniors. The event will take place in the Solley Theater at Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. Parking is available in the Spring and Hulfish Street Garages as well as metered parking along Witherspoon Street and Paul Robeson Place. Tickets will be available at the door the day of the show. Please call (609) 924-8777 or visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org for more information.

Moored in Brooklyn just under the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic presents great music up to five days a week, every week of the year. Walk across the gangplank of a renovated coffee barge into a “wonderfully intimate wood-paneled room with thrilling views of lower Manhattan and excellent acoustics.” Experience why critics call Bargemusic “the perfect chamber-music hall” and why artists say it is “unlike any other place in the world to perform.”

On Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 8PM, Bargemusic presents pianist Inna Faliks in a diverse program featuring works by Schubert, Liszt, the NYC premiere of a new work by Ljova, and more.

Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most passionately committed, exciting and poetic artists of her generation. After her acclaimed debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 15, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages, with numerous orchestras, in solo appearances, and with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart. Critics praise her “courage to take risks, expressive intensity and technical perfection” (General Anzeiger, Bonn), “Infusing every note with brilliance and personality,” (Hilton Head Competition Review), “poetry and panoramic vision” (Washington Post) , “riveting passion, playfulness” (Baltimore Sun) and her “virtuosity, humor, lyricism and a way to make every note an important part of the texture of the music.”(Free Times, South Carolina)

Complete program:

• Schubert – Sonata in A minor, D.784, Op.143
• Schubert – Liszt Erlkonig
• Liszt – Transcendental Etudes No.11 in D flat, “Harmonies du soir”, Transcendental Etudes No.10 in F minor
• Ljova – Sirota (*NYC premiere)
• Chopin – Barcarolle opus 60
• Morton Feldman – Music for Philip Guston
• Sofia Gubaidulina – Chaconne
• Rodion Schedrin – Basso Ostinato

Tickets are $35 ($30 Senior, $15 Student) and are avaialble at www.bargemusic.org

SIROTA for solo piano and historical recording by Lev ‘Ljova’ Zhurbin
duration: 7:45

Recorded live at the studios of WFMT in Chicago, April 4 2011.

commissioned by Inna Faliks and the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies;

dedicated to Inna Faliks & Gershon Sirota

SIROTA (the title means “Orphan” in Russian, which could be coincidental) is a composition for solo piano that incorporates a recording made by cantor Gershon Sirota in Warsaw in 1908. Often referred to as “The Jewish Caruso”, Gershon Sirota was born in the Ukraine, and served as cantor in Odessa, Vilnius, and in Warsaw, where he perished in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The piece features a fragmented melody line that is driven by a relentless limping pattern comprised of a falling and rising D-minor chord. After the climax, the pianist’s role becomes that of an accompanist at a synagogue, where Sirota is chanting prayers for Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish New Year).

World Premiere: performed by Inna Faliks at the Highland Park Community House in Highland Park, IL, on February 27, 2011

Fresh from a tour of Italy and Austria, the Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble will play a show at New York’s Cornelia Street Cafe at 6pm on Sunday, May 1st.

The Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble bridges and morphs jazz, classical chamber music, tango and folk music into one cohesive and individual sound. The group performed in New York and on the east coast in 2010, and recently toured Europe in 2011 in support of their debut album, “Galactic Diamonds.” The ensemble features Zach Brock on violin, Jody Redhage on cello, Martin Urbach on cajon/percussion, and the leader on piano/melodica.

Here’s an excerpt from recent review of Galactic Diamonds by Christian Carey from the magazine Signal to Noise:

“New York-based composer and pianist Steve Hudson and his Chamber Ensemble are skilled at bending and blending genres, adroitly moving between jazz, tango, and avant-classical… Hudson doesn’t restrict himself to piano, playing…melodica on the lilting ‘Para’ and tearing it up Fender Rhodes on ‘Funky Hobbit’ …Whether pushing the envelope with energetic improvisations or crafting more gradually developing essays, the Steve Hudson Ensemble is consistently engaging.”

Admission: $10. Box office: 212-989-9319. Address: 29 Cornelia St., New York City