NEW YORK, N.Y., March 27, 2019 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Pit Stop Players, the genre-defying instrumental chamber group composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will shed light on three new works at the DiMenna Center for Classical Musicās Cary Hall, 450 West 37th Street, on Monday, May 13, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

WHO: Pit Stop Players
WHAT: āILLUMINATIONSā
WHEN: Monday, May 13, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Cary Hall, 450 W. 37th Street, New York, NY
TICKETS: $25 ($15 for Students) https://www.smarttix.com/Event/pitBE3
INFO: http://rosenblummusic.com/pit-stop-players/
Headlining the program is the American premiere of Kevin Lauās āIllumination,ā a Double Concerto for Piano, Percussion, and Strings, featuring brothers Garah Landes (piano) and Greg Landes (percussion), known collectively as the duo Synchronicity. āIlluminationā is one of a very small number of works in the concerto genre that features piano and, in this case, fifteen different percussion instruments.
āItās going to be electrifying,ā says Pit Stop founder and music director Joshua Rosenblum. āItās a unique layout, with the piano and all that percussion out front, and these two virtuoso performersāwho also happen to be brothersāgoing wild with all the gear accompanied by a string orchestra. Weāve never done anything like this before, and Iām certain our audience has never seen anything like this before!ā
The third movement of āIlluminationā is titled āEinsteinās Dreams,ā and was inspired by Alan Lightmanās bestselling novel of the same name. By coincidence, Rosenblum, also inspired by Lightmanās novel, has adapted āEinsteinās Dreamsā as a musical theater piece. Prospect Theater Company will present the musicalās Off-Broadway debut this fall at 59E59 Theaters. To complement Lauās piece, Rosenblum created a concert suite from his āEinsteinās Dreams,ā incorporating themes from his musical.
The concert will open with the world premiere of legendary Broadway orchestrator Jonathan Tunickās āSerenade for Strings.ā
āIām honored to be able to present Jonathanās wonderful composition,ā Rosenblum said. āHeās a living legend as an orchestrator, and hearing his original music will be another kind of illumination.ā
The concert also includes a suite of movements from various pieces thematically connected by the concept of Time: Olivier Messiaenās āQuartet for the End of Time,ā Robert Rodriguezās āMusica por un tiempoā (which was directly inspired by the Messiaen piece), and Robert Muczynskiās āTime Piecesā for clarinet and piano. Stravinskyās neoclassical masterpiece, āConcerto in D for String Orchestraā concludes the program.
Cited by āThe New York Timesā for their āflair,ā āspirited readings,ā and āplayfully cohesive programs,ā āmaking an hour-long serving of modern works not just palatable but enticing,ā the Pit Stop Players remain at the cutting edge of New Yorkās cultural landscape, bringing exciting contemporary music to new audiences, and upending conventional assumptions about concert programming. Founded in 2009 by conductor/composer Joshua Rosenblum, the ensemble is comprised of some of New Yorkās top freelance musicians, commonly regarded as the best instrumentalists in the world.
Repertoire includes arrangements and transcriptions of great pieces from the recent past (encompassing numerous genres), as well as undeservedly neglected classical gems, but the primary emphasis is on new compositions that are both challenging and immediately engaging, written and orchestrated specifically for the group by todayās most exciting creative talents.
Highlights have included the groupās performance of āThe Rite of Springā in a specially-commissioned new chamber arrangement, as well as Rosenblumās own āYoung Personās Guide to the Pit Stop Players,ā with guest narrator Cynthia Nixon. In 2016, the Players gave a joint performance with the Brooklyn-based dance company The Chase Brock Experience, a collaboration which zealnyc.com described as āperfecting perfection.ā
Learn more: http://rosenblummusic.com/pit-stop-players/
News Source: ARCHIVAL PRESS RELEASES

