Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Announces New Free Partner Performances
Metropolitan Opera’s Premiere of Terence Blanchard’s
Fire Shut Up in My Bones Streamed Live at Marcus Garvey Park, The First Work by a Black Composer to be Presented at the Met on September 27
Steinway & Sons Presents: The 5 Browns Live
from Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park on September 28
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NEW YORK, NY – September 16, 2021 – Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is thrilled to announce two new free partner performances this month. On Monday, September 27, a free premiere of the Metropolitan Opera’s opening night, Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, will be streamed live in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. The following day on Tuesday, September 28, Steinway & Sons will present a free in-person five-piano concert featuring the acclaimed piano ensemble The 5 Browns in Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell, directly adjacent to Rumsey Playfield.
On Monday, September 27, SummerStage and the Metropolitan Opera will present the premiere of Metropolitan Opera’s opening night for the 2021–2022 season. The opening night performance, taking place in the Met Opera House, will be livestreamed via satellite to a large HD video screen in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. The free event will begin at 6:30PM ET. The opening night livestream event will feature the premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, the first work by a Black composer to be presented at the Met. Based on Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir of the same name and featuring a libretto by Kasi Lemmons, this new staging is co-directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown. Brown, who is also the production’s choreographer, becomes the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. Both Brown and Blanchard are SummerStage alums, having performed during the festival in previous years. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the cast starring Will Liverman as Charles, Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta and Latonia Moore as Billie. Fire Shut Up in My Bones tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a lifetime of trauma and hardship. The opera follows Charles through his adolescence and ultimately leads to a fateful moment: when he must decide whether to break free from his trauma and begin to rebuild his life.
Guests who attend the free live stream of the performance at Marcus Garvey Park will be required to show either proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test within the last 72 hours in order to enter. Children under the age of 12 may accompany their parent or guardian who provides proof of full vaccination or negative COVID test. SummerStage will accept proof of final Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna or WHO-approved vaccination using the CLEAR app, the NYS Excelsior Pass, NYC Covid Safe app, a physical/photo of CDC vaccination card, or EU digital pass, accompanied by a government-issued photo identification. Masks are required upon entry and strongly encouraged for all guests for the duration of the performance, as is physical distance. Learn more about acceptable documentation, mask guidelines, and other safety protocols here. For more information about the event, visit cityparksfoundation.org/events/met-opera-2021-harlem/.
On Tuesday, September 28, SummerStage and Steinway & Sons will present a free five-piano live in-person concert featuring the acclaimed piano ensemble The 5 Browns at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park at 7:00 PM ET. The Bandshell is adjacent to Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. The concert is produced by Steinway & Sons and underwritten by the Paulson Family Foundation. “The 5 Browns – Live in Central Park” will feature five Steinway concert grand pianos and eight piano pieces—from Beethoven to Gershwin to Bernstein—performed by Steinway Artists Deondra, Desirae, Gregory, Melody, and Ryan Brown. The 5 Browns were the first family of five siblings ever admitted to The Juilliard School, and since 2002, the quintet has delivered on its promise to “wake up classical music” through international tours that have brought critical and popular acclaim. This family-friendly program is a natural outgrowth of their child advocacy work and commitment to delivering classical music to the widest possible audience. Their latest album on the Steinway Label, The Little Tin Box, includes musical favorites from their childhood.
The 5 Browns – Live in Central Park program will include:
● Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op.67, Ludwig van Beethoven/Jeffrey Shumway
I. Allegro con brio
The 5 Browns
● Malaguena from Andalucia Suite, Ernesto Lecuona
Gregory and Ryan Brown
● Scenes from West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein/Kendall Durelle Briggs
The 5 Browns
● Flight of the Bumblebee, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov/Jeffrey Shumway
The 5 Browns
● Star Wars: Suite for Five Pianos, John Williams/Greg Anderson
The 5 Browns
● Rondo Alla Turca, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/Greg Anderson
The 5 Browns
● Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque, Claude Debussy/Greg Anderson
Melody, Desirae, and Deondra Brown
● Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin/Jeffrey Shumway
The 5 Browns
Attendees are advised to enter Central Park via Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street, and to proceed to the Naumburg Bandshell. The 5 Browns - Live in Central Park event will follow all state and local regulations regarding large-scale outdoor events. Seating will be available for vaccinated, masked audience members. For more information, visit cityparksfoundation.org/events/the-5-browns/
A full list of upcoming SummerStage shows and a digital brochure is available now at SummerStage.org.
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is a proud member of the NYS Outdoor Performing Arts Coalition and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).
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Official Hashtags: #SummerStage #SummerStageAnywhere
Capital One is the title sponsor of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage. Supporting Sponsors include iStar, Union Beer Distributors, Sierra Nevada, Bell's Brewery, Wolffer Estate Cider, Two Robbers Seltzer, Con Edison’s Arts Al Fresco Series, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Generous private support is provided by The Thompson Family Foundation, The Jaharis Family Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Shubert Organization, and the J.E. & Z.B. Butler Foundation. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the NYC Council under the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson. Additional support is generously provided by our dedicated festival audience and SummerStage Members.
In all of its programming and activities, City Parks Foundation partners with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to activate neighborhood parks.
About City Parks Foundation
At City Parks Foundation, we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through sports, arts, community building and education programs for all New Yorkers. Our programs -- located in more than 400 parks, recreation centers and public schools across New York City -- reach 310,000 people each year. Our ethos is simple: thriving parks mean thriving communities.
About SummerStage
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is New York’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. SummerStage annually presents approximately 100 performances in 15-18 parks throughout the five boroughs. With performances ranging from American pop, Latin, global music, dance, and more, SummerStage fills a vital niche in New York City’s summer arts festival landscape. Since its inception 35 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage. In 2020, Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere was launched in response to the global pandemic, presenting 80 free digital performances, spanning all genres, available to all around the world. Capital One is the Title Sponsor of SummerStage. For more information, visit www.SummerStage.org.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., had $310.3 billion in deposits and $425.2 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2021. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
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Press Contact
Katy Cooper + Gabriella Natali | Big Picture Media
Katy@BigPictureMediaOnline.com + Gabriella@BigPictureMediaOnline.com
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