Anne-Marie McDermott Two Premieres

"FREE FOR ALL AT TOWN HALL" OPENS ITS SEVENTH SEASON

WITH A PERFORMANCE BY PIANIST ANNE-MARIE McDERMOTT

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 AT 5PM

PROGRAM INCLUDES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CHARLES WUORINEN'S FOURTH PIANO SONATA AND THE NEW YORK PREMIERE

OF CLARICE ASSAD'S "WHEN ART SHOWED UP"

SERIES FILLS TWO GAPS, BEGINNING JUST WHEN OTHERS ARE ENDING, AND BEING FREE TO THE PUBLIC

The 2009 "Free For All at Town Hall" series will open on Sunday, May 31, 2009, at 5 p.m. with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performing a solo recital that includes the

world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Fourth Piano Sonata, which was written for Ms. McDermott; the New York premiere of Clarice Assad's "When Art Showed Up;" and three Haydn piano sonatas, in honor of the 200^th anniversary of the death of the composer.

Ms. McDermott, with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, performed the inaugural concert of "Free For All at Town Hall" in 2003. The series, described in The New Yorker as "the price-is-right concert series," is now in its seventh year of providing New York audiences with high quality, free concerts.

The May 31 program is as follows:

Haydn: Piano Sonata Hob. XVI: 40, in G Major

Haydn: Piano Sonata Hob. XVI: 20, in c minor

Charles Wuorinen: Fourth Piano Sonata (World Premiere)

Intermission

Haydn: Piano Sonata Hob. XVI: 52, in E-Flat Major

Clarice Assad: "When Art Showed Up" (New York Premiere)

Rounding out the 2009 "Free For All at Town Hall" series of concerts on Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m. will be Hilary Hahn in her only New York recital this season. Ms. Hahn will perform works by Brahms, Bartˆ„k, Ives and Ysaˆøe.

"Free For All at Town Hall" concludes the series with an all-Schubert program performed by the esteemed Emerson String Quartet on Sunday, June 21, at 5 p.m.

The Town Hall is located near Times Square at 123 West 43^rd Street (between 6^th Avenue and Broadway). Tickets to all "Free for All" concerts are available only on the day of the concert, at the Town Hall Box Office, starting at noon. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, limit two to a customer, no reservations.

About Anne-Marie McDermott

A fearless elegance surrounds pianist Anne-Marie McDermott as she has proven to be a force to reckon with, exuding an approachable confidence that showcases her versatility and sophistication seen in her solo performances as well as chamber music ensembles. She has a versatile career encompassing over 100 concerts each year in a combination of solo recitals, concerti and chamber music performances. Her repertoire choices are eclectic, spanning works from Bach and Haydn to Prokofiev and Scriabin, to Kernis, Hartke, Tower and Wuorinen.

McDermott debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1997 under Christian Thielemann and has since appeared with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. In the 2008-2009 season, McDermott will perform with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Alabama Symphony, San Diego Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, and tour with the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

McDermott was named an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1995. She continues her long standing collaboration with violinist, Nadja Salerno- Sonnenberg, including a CD titled "LIVE" released on the NSS label. McDermott also continues her collaboration with Opus One, a piano quartet with Ida Kavafian, Peter Wiley and Steven Tenenbom.

McDermott is the Artistic Director of the Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curacao, Dutch Antilles, as well as the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival.

A winner of the Young Concert Artists Auditions, McDermott was also the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Development Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Bruce Hungerford Memorial Prize, and the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists.

McDermott has recorded the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas, which has just been released in a 3-CD set by Bridge Records. She has also recorded Bach's English Suites and Partitas (named Gramophone Magazine's Editor's Choice), and Gershwin's Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony and Justin Brown (also named Gramophone Magazine's Editor's Choice).

McDermott began playing the piano at age 5. By 12 she had performed the Mendelssohn Concerto in g minor with the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning..

About Charles Wourinen

Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938, New York) is one of the world's leading composers. His many honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Pulitzer Prize (the youngest composer to receive the award). His compositions encompass every form and medium, including works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, soloists, ballet, and stage. His newest works include "Time Regained," a fantasy for piano and orchestra for Peter Serkin, James Levine and the MET Opera Orchestra; Second Piano Quintet for Peter Serkin and the Brentano Quartet; Eighth Symphony for the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and the Fourth Piano Sonata, a 17-minute work in four movements, commissioned by Anne-Marie McDermott for premiere on "Free for All at Town Hall." His earlier piano sonatas are the Third written for Alan Feinberg in 1986; the Second written for Jeffrey Swann in 1976; and Sonata (1969) written for Robert Miller. His next project is an opera on Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain."

About Clarice Assad

Clarice Assad is a classical and jazz composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist.

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Clarice Assad was born into one of Brazil's most famous musical families (she is the daughter of Sergio Assad, one of today's preeminent guitarists and composers), and has performed professionally since the age of seven. Formal piano studies began with Sheila Zagury in Brazil; she then studied with Natalie Fortin and had additional instruction in jazz and Brazilian piano under the tutelage of Leandro Braga.

As a composer, her works have been published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), and in the United States (Virtual Artists Collective Publishing), and have been performed in Europe, South America, the United States and Japan. Miss Assad's works often have a thematic core, and explore the physical and psychological elements of the chosen story, object or concept.

About "Free For All at Town Hall"
"Free For All at Town Hall" is a production of Twin Lions, Inc., a non-profit concert production company founded by Omus Hirshbein and Jacqueline Taylor. Their goal is to present great musicians in concerts that are free to the public in spaces that are good for both the music and the audience.

The inspiration for this venture came from Ms. Taylor's experience directing a project at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center called "Beethoven 2000." To celebrate the year 2000, the Chamber Music Society presented the Orion String Quartet performing all of Beethoven's string quartets in six concerts. As a gift to the City of New York, the concerts were free. "People thought I was crazy," commented Ms. Taylor. "After all, it is relatively easy to sell the Beethoven String Quartets at Lincoln Center in New York City, so why give them away?" The answer came when the public arrived to pick up their tickets. Four thousand tickets were given away in under two hours, with the line at Alice Tully Hall stretching from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue.

Twin Lions, Inc. chose to begin in New York's Town Hall - a McKim, Mead and White building completed in 1921 - for several reasons: one, because they believe it to be one of New York City's finest acoustical spaces; and second, the size of the hall (1,500 seats) would allow them to have large audiences. But, perhaps most important, is Town Hall's history. For a long time it was the place for an important young musician to make their New York debut. The list of people who have performed there is staggering, including Marian Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Igor Stravinsky, to name only a few.

For listings

"FREE FOR ALL AT TOWN HALL"

ANNE-MARIE McDERMOTT, piano

Sunday, May 31 at 5 p.m.

The Town Hall

123 West 43^rd Street (between 6^th Avenue and Broadway)

New York, NY 10036

Tickets to all "Free for All" concerts are available only on the day of the concert, at the Town Hall Box Office, starting at noon. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, limit two to a customer; no reservations.

"FREE FOR ALL AT TOWN HALL"

HILARY HAHN, violin

Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m.

The Town Hall

123 West 43rd Street (between 6^th Avenue and Broadway)

New York, NY 10036

Tickets to all "Free for All" concerts are available only on the day of the concert, at the Town Hall Box Office, starting at noon. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, limit two to a customer; no reservations.

"FREE FOR ALL AT TOWN HALL"

EMERSON STRING QUARTET

Sunday, June 21 at 5 p.m.

The Town Hall

123 West 43rd Street (between 6^th Avenue and Broadway)

New York, NY 10036

Tickets to all Free for All concerts are available only on the day of the concert, at the Town Hall Box Office, starting at noon. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, limit two to a customer; no reservations.