The North/South Chamber Orchestra Concludes its 46th Season on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 PM in New York City

Music by composers from France, the Czech Republic, and the US, including Deon Nielsen Price, Simone Tolomeo, Martin Vitous, and Max Lifchitz, will be featured.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The North/South Chamber Orchestra is thrilled to announce the final concert of its 46th consecutive season dedicated to celebrating the vibrant works of living composers.

The event will feature four recent works by contemporary composers from France, the Czech Republic, and the United States, including Deon Nielsen Price, Simone Tolomeo, Martin Vitous, and Max Lifchitz. Clarinetist Berkeley Price and double bassist Troy Rinker will appear as soloists.

The free-admission concert will take place on Tuesday evening, June 16. It will start at 7:00 PM and is expected to conclude around 8:30 PM. It will be held at the welcoming and acoustically excellent Christ & St. Stephen's Church, located at 129 West 69th Street, New York, NY. The church is air-conditioned for the audience's comfort.

No tickets or reservations are required; admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC

Described by the New York Times as the "Tom Brady of composers" due to her long-standing career in music, Deon Nielsen Price (b. 1934) is a prize-winning pianist, commissioned composer, choral and orchestral conductor, recording artist, veteran educator, and published author. Her works have been performed both in the United States and abroad and are featured on several compact disc albums.

One of her notable compositions, Becoming Screenland for clarinet and strings, provides a musical overview of the history of Culver City, California, where she has lived for 45 years. Based on the Tongva song "Song after the Blessing," the piece illustrates the development of Culver City over two centuries of Spanish colonization, culminating in the establishment of the Laugh Factory of the World, or Hal Roach Studios, in the early 20th century.

Simone Tolomeo (b. 1985) is a composer, bandoneonist, and pianist whose work blends contemporary classical music with Mediterranean traditions and socially engaged artistic practice. After studying piano and composition at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in his hometown of Palermo, he traveled to Buenos Aires to master tango and the bandoneon. He eventually relocated to France, where he directs the Ensemble ConTempo, which promotes an inclusive and non-elitist vision of contemporary music.

Tolomeo's piece, La Violetta d’Alcamo, is inspired by the life and legacy of Franca Viola, a pivotal figure in the history of women’s rights in Italy. In 1965, at the age of seventeen, Viola bravely refused a so-called "rehabilitating marriage" to the man who had abducted and raped her. This act challenged both entrenched social norms and existing Italian law at the time. Her decision marked a turning point in public consciousness and contributed to the repeal of that law in 1981. The three-movement work seeks to give musical voice to an individual story whose impact reshaped society, affirming the power of personal courage to bring about lasting social transformation.

Martin Vitouš aims to blend American jazz with recent European musical innovations in his compositions. Born in Prague, Czech Republic, he grew up in an artistic environment that fostered his musical creativity. His string quartet won first prize at the 2003 International Competition for Composers Pablo Sorozábal. In 2008, he contributed to the ZOO World Modular Project, which was performed in Florida. Additionally, Vitouš is active as a writer; his play "Street Poets" served as the basis for his most recent work, an opera titled "Street Poets: The Night and The Day."

Vitouš’ db&SQ (2018) is a classical piece infused with a jazz twist, featuring a solo double bass accompanied by a string orchestra. It follows the traditional concerto three-movement structure. In the first movement, the double bass takes the lead, performing a solo reminiscent of a jazz musician, while the string ensemble accompanies. The second movement is calm and tranquil. In the third movement, the double bass plays a lyrical melody, supported rhythmically by the ensemble.

Max Lifchitz has appeared as a pianist on concert stages throughout Europe and the Americas. As a composer, he has been awarded grants and fellowships from several prestigious organizations, including ASCAP, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the University of Michigan Society of Fellows, the New York State Individual Artists Program, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Recordings of his compositions and performances are available on most streaming platforms. Inspired by risque dance rhythms, the Four Tango Sketches were written in 2022 as an homage to the great Argentinean master Astor Piazzolla on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

MEET THE PERFORMERS

Berkeley A. Price is the Principal Clarinet with the Salt Lake Symphony in Utah. Trained at the Eastman School, he has performed throughout the US, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Panama. Also active in academia, he is the former Dean of Fine Arts at El Camino College in California.

Troy Rinker, double bass, studied at Indiana University and The Juilliard School. At age 15, he was playing professionally with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Since relocating to New York, he has performed and recorded with many ensembles, including the Oratorio Society of New York, the EOS Chamber Orchestra, the New York Pops, and the American Composers Orchestra.


Active since 1980, North/South Consonance, Inc. is devoted to the promotion of music by composers from the Americas and the world. Its activities are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as grants from the Music Performance Fund, the Zethus Fund, the BMI Foundation, and the generosity of numerous individual donors.

For further programming information, please visit the North/South Consonance website @ https://www.northsouthmusic.org/

Max Lifchitz
North/South Consonance, Inc
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