A Celebration of African-American Music - June 21

Don't miss our Concert Gala on June 21, 6pm - 9pm!

These amazing artists will perform works of African-American composers in a range of styles from blues and jazz to art song, opera, and more:

Yolanda F. Johnson, lyric soprano, completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance at the U. of Tulsa and graduate studies at the U. of Akron. She has performed nationally and internationally in musical venues including opera, concert, oratorio and sacred music. She is an active recitalist/lecturer on many musical subjects, specifically, African-American spirituals and released an album, Feel the Spirit, in conjunction with her spirituals concert-lecture, A Spirituals Experience. Yolanda made her NYC debut as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and has also performed the roles of Anita Hill in Ben Yarmolinsky’s, Clarence and Anita, Noemie in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Millie in Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom, by Nkeiru Okoye. Yolanda is a member of the SAI International Women’s Music Fraternity, a leader in the music ministry at her church, and has been a featured presenter at the Performing the World International Performing Arts Conference. 2014 saw the premiere of her original musical compositions, including Shout for Joy, an Easter song cycle for choral ensemble, and will see the premiere of a children’s opera, based upon the classic story of The Lion and the Mouse. Yolanda currently serves on the voice and piano faculty of Sleepy Hollow Performing Arts in Westchester, NY and is a member of the board of the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall.

Rio Clemente: A consummate jazz musician who has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the White House, Rio holds his audiences spellbound with the sheer brilliance of his improvisations, and his unique fusions of classical passagework with jazz. As composer and pianist on the title track of Miss Amy’s CD, My Precious One, Rio shared in the spotlight of its 2006 Grammy nomination.

Otho Farrow, bass baritone, hails from Niles, Michigan and is currently a student of renowned soprano, Sonja Karlsen.  His repertoire includes such songs as “Old Man River” from Show Boat, “Make Them Hear You” from Ragtime, “I got Plenty of Nuttin” and “Bess You Is My Woman Now” from Porgy and Bess and various Negro Spirituals.  Otho's goal is to warm audiences with the breadth of his talent.

Michael Eisenberg is a National Endowment for the Humanities 2014 summer fellow to Germany for research and performance of the music of J.S. Bach. He has garnered acclaim for his interpretations of repertoire ranging from the sixteenth century to works by living composers. For six years, Michael Eisenberg was presented in ongoing recitals by Carnegie Hall as a featured artist in the Carnegie NYC Neighborhood Concert Series. As a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild roster, he was selected to conduct at the Placido Domingo Met Gala celebration. He has performed throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East and for the National Public Radio, the BBC, CBC, and HBO. His recording credits include two-time finalist prizes with recording contracts in the EMA/Dorian international recording competition. He is the founding artistic director of chamber ensembles Le Nuove Musiche and Ensemble for the Seicento and he holds masters degrees in harpsichord and piano from the Mannes College of Music as a Sylvia Marlowe Fellow and the Ph.D. from the City University of New York.  American Academy in Rome and has served on the Columbia University and Fordham University music faculty. His exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci and Musical Instruments is currently being displayed at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and the Sacrestia di Bramante in Milan.

Purchase tickets with credit card or Paypal here

or print this form to reserve by mail.  Seating is limited to 100 patrons.

The concert will be held on the 2nd Floor in the Gothic Chamber which is not handicapped accessible.