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Simone Dinnerstein: An American Mosaic (VIRTUAL)

A Live Performance from Green-Wood Cemetery

Originally Aired: Monday, November 1, 2021

Overview

No need to RSVP — just come back to this page on Monday, November 1 at 7PM ET and tune in to the concert.

Over the course of the pandemic shutdown, internationally-renowned pianist Simone Dinnerstein took refuge in long walks through Green-Wood. Now, she brings her searching artistry to Death of Classical’s The Angel’s Share in a one-of-a-kind performance that will see her guiding audiences across the Cemetery, pausing periodically to perform on several Yamaha pianos that will be scattered throughout the route.

In this exclusive streaming event, Dinnerstein will perform a deeply-relevant new piece written for her by Richard Danielpour, entitled An American Mosaic. Each movement of the work commemorates a different segment of the American population that’s been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including first responders, parents, caretakers, and those who have lost their lives to the virus. Inspired and comforted by Dinnerstein’s Bach recordings throughout the pandemic, Danielpour also composed three Bach transcriptions to accompany An American Mosaic.

Watch a preview:

PROGRAM

BATTLE HILL

1. Prologue (First Consolation)
2. Caretakers & Research Physicians
3. Parents & Children
4. Rabbis & Ministers

HILLSIDE MAUSOLEUM

5. Interlude (Second Consolation)
6. Journalists, Poets, & Writers
7. The Visible Enemy
8. An Elegy of Our Time
9. The Invisible Enemy

THE CATACOMBS

10. Interlude (Third Consolation)
11. Documentary Filmmakers & Photographers
12. Doctors & Interns
13. Teachers & Students
14. Prophets & Martyrs
15. Epilogue (Fourth Consolation)

MODERN CHAPEL

Three Bach Transcriptions
(arr. Danielpour)

  1. Choral
  2. Aria
  3. Fugue

Originally recorded September 16, 2021

Simone Dinnerstein

Credit: Photo by James Conlon

Simone Dinnerstein is an American pianist. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, son and dog, less than a mile from the hospital in which she was born. Simone is committed to giving concerts in non-traditional venues and to audiences who don’t often hear classical music. For the last three decades, she has played concerts throughout the United States for the Piatigorsky Foundation, including giving the first piano recital in the Louisiana state prison system at the Avoyelles Correctional Center. She also created a program called Bachpacking during which she takes a digital keyboard to elementary school classrooms, helping young children get close to the music she loves.

Death of Classical is a producer and presenter of classical music and opera, committed to bringing new life to the performing arts by creating uniquely unexpected concert experiences, reaching new and broader audiences, and giving a
voice to underrepresented composers and performers. Death of Classical currently presents two concert series, The Crypt Sessions and The Angel’s Share, created and curated by Andrew Ousley.

Incorporated in 1838, The Green-Wood Cemetery stretches across 478 pastoral acres in Brooklyn and boasts extraordinary works of sculpture, statuary, and architecture. Today, Green-Wood is an active cemetery, an accredited arboretum, and a National Historic Landmark. Throughout the year, it offers innovative programs in arts and culture, nature and the environment, initiatives in climate change, education, workforce development, restoration, and research. To learn more, visit www.green-wood.com.

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