April 11, 1995
Press Contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940
Concert Line: (202) 707-5502
Library of Congress Celebrates Gershwin Collection with Free Concert at Warner Theatre May 25
The Music Division of the Library of Congress is presenting
a special concert celebrating the lives and works of George and
Ira Gershwin at 8 p.m., Thursday, May 25, at the Warner Theatre,
1299 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Free tickets for the concert (two per customer), will be
distributed to the public on a first-come, first-served basis on
Monday, May 15, at the Warner Theatre box office, beginning at 10
a.m. All seats for the concert are reserved.
The program for the gala, "'S Wonderful! The Library of
Congress Celebrates the George and Ira Gershwin Collection," will
feature familiar tunes from the brothers' many shows, as well as
seldom-heard songs and unpublished melodies, including several
that will be performed in concert for the first time.
Tommy Krasker, archivist for the Ira and Leonore Gershwin
Trusts, is the executive producer and director of the event, and
Scott Thompson is the choreographer. Andrew Litton, renowned
conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will be the musical
director for the evening. Mr. Litton, former National Symphony
Orchestra Exxon/Arts Endowment Assistant Conductor, will conduct
the Gershwin Gala Orchestra and Chorus and some of the finest
singers from today's Broadway and concert stages, including
Philip Chaffin, Shawn Daywalt, David Garrison, Audra McDonald,
Wanda Richert, and Lara Teeter. Special guest stars for the
concert will be the celebrated singer and guitarist John
Pizzarelli and two-time Grammy-award winning operatic soprano
Dawn Upshaw.
Bandleader, guitarist, and a veteran of numerous television
appearances, singer-composer John Pizzarelli has toured with the
Benny Goodman Band and with Frank Sinatra. He is known for his
virtuoso instrumental performances and is considered to be one of
the most fluid improvisers working in the jazz mainstream today.
Since making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984,
Dawn Upshaw has been engaged throughout the world for leading
roles in the lyric soprano repertoire, including all of the
Mozart lyric roles. She was a winner of the Naumburg Competition
in 1985 and gave her first recital at Alice Tully Hall in 1986.
Ms. Upshaw frequently performs contemporary music in concerts and
on recordings with a variety of colleagues, including the Kronos
and Arditti quartets, and she has appeared in New York and on
tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She has
recorded leading roles in numerous operas, and her first solo
album won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. Her
second solo recording, "The Girl with Orange Lips," won a second
Grammy in 1991.
The songs of George and Ira Gershwin -- "'S Wonderful," "I
Got Rhythm," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Someone to Watch
Over Me," "Fascinating Rhythm," and so many others -- have long
been a part of our national musical consciousness and will be a
part of this program.
The Gershwin Collection in the Library of Congress is the
world's preeminent collection of primary source materials for the
study of the life and work of the George and Ira Gershwin. Most
important is the music -- that written by George and Ira
together, that written by the two with other collaborators, and
George's concert works. There are orchestrations, piano-vocal
scores, and sketches as well as lyric sheets and librettos in the
collection. Much of this material is in the Gershwins' own
handwriting. In addition to the music, the collection includes
scrapbooks, photographs, paintings and drawings, contracts,
business correspondence, royalty statements, programs, posters,
scripts for radio broadcasts, other biographical texts, and even
the Congressional Gold Medals struck in honor of the Gershwins in
1988 to honor their "outstanding and invaluable contributions to
American music, theatre, and culture."
This celebration in concert is sponsored by the Ira and
Leonore S. Gershwin Fund in the Library of Congress.
The Warner Theatre opened as a movie palace named the
"Earle" in 1924 and has recently been restored to highlight its
lush neoclassical decor. It offers seating for approximately
1,800 people.
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PR 95-039
4/11/95
ISSN 0731-3527