GRAMMY-NOMINATED ORCHESTRA THE KNIGHTS PERFORM AT BRIC, OCTOBER 27

BRIC ANNOUNCES: GRAMMY-NOMINATED ORCHESTRA THE KNIGHTS TO PRESENT Leonard Bernstein and Walt Whitman: American Originals & De Falla's Master Peter Puppet Show, OCTOBER 27

Evening Concert
Leonard Bernstein and Walt Whitman: American Originals
& De Falla's Master Peter Puppet Show
Oct 27, 2018 | 8PM
$18 Adv/$23 Day-of-show
BRIC House Ballroom

Family Matinees*
Oct 27, 2018 | 2PM
Dec 2, 2018 | 2PM
$10 Adv/$14 Day-of-show
BRIC House Ballroom

BRIC is pleased to welcome back Grammy-nominated Brooklyn-based orchestra – and BRIC Artists-In-Residence – The Knights for an evening-length program titled Leonard Bernstein and Walt Whitman: American Originals & De Falla's Master Peter Puppet Show. (October 27) Arguably two of America's brightest creative forces, Leonard Bernstein and Walt Whitman still seem larger than life to this day. In this season, which encompasses anniversary celebrations for both great artists (Bernstein's 100th birthday and Whitman's 200th), The Knights celebrate with music that inspired and drove them to find their own voice, as well as original music composed by Bernstein and music featuring text by Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman had a lifelong obsession with opera, which blossomed especially in the years immediately preceding publication of the still-revelatory Leaves of Grass. The Knights celebrate the music that inspired Whitman with a program featuring pearls of the bel canto Italian operatic tradition, including songs by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Mozart.

Bernstein possessed a flair for the theatrical, whether it was delivering his influential Young People's Concerts, the distinguished Norton Lecture at Harvard, or conducting in his inimitable style. But it is perhaps with his musical theater works that he remains most widely associated today, and The Knights will perform excerpts of his hits Candide and West Side Story as part of this celebration.

In the second half of the program, the audience is treated to the wizardry of visual artist Kevork Mourad, whose mixture of projected animation and live painting help tell the tale of an episode of Cervantes' Don Quixote, known as Master Peter's Puppet Show. This pocket-sized opera by the colorful Spanish composer Manuel De Falla is a comedic ride through the hallucinatory visions of the unfortunate Knight-errant, told through the voices of three stellar singers.

About BRIC

BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. The organization presents and incubates work by artists and media-makers that reflects the diversity of New York. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year.

BRIC’s main venue, BRIC House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio and artist work spaces.

Some of BRIC’s most acclaimed programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park; groundbreaking media initiatives, including BRIC TV, BRIC Radio, and Brooklyn Free Speech; and renowned contemporary art exhibitions. BRIC also offers education and community-building programs at BRIC House and throughout Brooklyn.

In addition to making cultural programming genuinely accessible, BRIC is dedicated to providing substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences. BRIC is unusual in both presenting exceptional cultural experiences and nurturing individual expression. This dual commitment enables BRIC to most effectively reflect New York City’s innate cultural richness and diversity.

Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org.

Press contact: Ron Gaskill at Blake Zidell & Associates: 718.643.9052, ronblakezidell.com.