The Orfeo Duo - What a Neighborhood!

What a Neighborhood! What a Neighborhood! presents warm, intimate, exciting performances that celebrate Manhattanville, Morningside Heights, & the Manhattan Valley primarily through the music of living local composers. We founded the series in 2003 to encourage and inspire composers and draw neighbors together, helping to nurture a strong community that includes all the diversity of our area.

We would love to get to know you. Please call us at 212-222-2101, or email us at orfeoduo@gmail.com, or better yet, introduce yourself at one of our events. See below for details.

Let us know of any composers of any age who might not yet be listed on our map of over 200 neighborhood composers!
Bring your friends and family! Meet your neighbors!

Love, Vita and Ishmael

SPRING 2012

Saturday, February 25 at 5 pm
Roerich Museum
(319 West 107th Street,
near Riverside Drive)
Free

JOURNEYS TO PARADISE
Music and Storytelling

A transporting experience: David Loeb’s Imagined Landscapes, Ishmael Wallace’s Hymns to the Night, the ancient Japanese story of Urashima Taro’s journey to a palace under the sea, & Mozart’s Sonata in E flat,
all surrounded by Roerich’s glowing paintings.

Orfeo Duo (Vita Wallace, violin; Ishmael Wallace, piano & baritone);
Margaret Wolfson, storyteller; Paula Chan Bing, flute & harp

About Margaret Wolfson’s work: “Storytelling at its best.” “Utterly spellbinding.”

Nicholar Roerich's painting
Nicholar Roerich's Pilgrim of the Radiant City

Thursday, March 8th at 7pm
Saturday, March 10th at 5pm
Sunday, March 11th at 5pm
(For reservations and the address, on 113th Street near Riverside Drive, please call 212-222-2101)
Suggested donation $15.

MUSICAL SEANCES

Candle-lit salons at which early Romantic composers and writers discuss revolution, longing, and the infinite with their counterparts in our neighborhood. Music includes Beethoven’s song-cycle.. To the Distant Beloved, Schumann’s Fantasy (originally entitled Sonata for Beethoven), Contradance Love Songs by Ishmael Wallace, and Nightclouds by David Loeb.

Orfeo Duo (Vita Wallace, violin & piano; Ishmael Wallace, piano & baritone); Abigail Dyer, soprano

“Your playing was out of this world; the music, sublime.” “I truly enjoyed the experience ....
There was a real magical quality to it.”

Novalis
Novalis

Saturday March 31 at 3:30 pm
Ascension School Auditorium
(220 West 108th Street)
Suggested donation $10
Bilingual English/Spanish

FAMILY DANCE

Absolute beginners and experienced dancers of all ages are welcome! No partner needed.
Caller Henry Chapin teaches easy and fun contradances to infectious old-time fiddle tunes and
dance music by neighborhood composers Kate Ettinger and Fidel Cuellar;
we close with a touch of swing!

The irresistible young students of Ascension Church Cultural Center, directed by César & Maria Espona, lead the way.

Orfeo Duo (Vita Wallace, violin & accordion; Ishmael Wallace, piano)

“What an invigorating program! I loved the way families were able to relax and enjoy the afternoon.
The band was great!” “I came away feeling better than I did going in.”

What a Neighborhood! is made possible by the generosity of friends and neighbors: artists, volunteers, supporters, arts and community organizations & businesses, and the sponsorship of the 102-103 Streets Block Association and The Field.


For more information, please call 212-222-2101 or email orfeoduo@gmail.com