Brooklyn Youth Chorus To Perform At ‘Crossing Brooklyn Ferry’ Festival

April 24, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Youth Chorus (BYC), under the direction of founder Dianne Berkun, concludes its 20th anniversary season with two major solo performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Roulette.

The BYC perform in the new Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, a showcase of music and film curated by Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner of the indie band The National, on Saturday, May 5, at 6 p.m. at BAMcafé.

Two weeks later they present their annual Soundscapes program at Roulette on Saturday, May 19, at 8 p.m.

The BYC will perform five works that have been written and arranged especially for them in the last year by prominent indie-classical composers, including three world premieres.

These premieres include “To the Sea” by Bryce Dessner; “Before the Words” by Shara Worden, who has performed under the name My Brightest Diamond; and a new arrangement of “As Long as We Live” by Missy Mazzoli, with text by Walt Whitman.

All three composer-artists will perform in their own pieces, with Dessner playing guitar, Mazzoli playing keyboard, and Worden singing as part of the chorus.

In addition, the harmonies of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Here,” which received its world premiere in March 2012 when BYC performed it in a joint concert with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, will be performed for the second time. The BYC will also perform “Tour Eiffel,” a piece by Dessner that premiered at St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2011 as part of Nico Muhly’s newly commissioned collaborative work, “Tell the Way,” which launched the collaborations between the BYC and Dessner.

Bryce Dessner, best known as the guitarist for the acclaimed rock band The National alongside his brother Aaron, has also received widespread acclaim as a new music composer. In 2011-12, new works of his are being performed by the Kronos Quartet, the American Composers Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Bang on a Can All-stars and the Calder String Quartet.

With their New Voices program — a commitment to developing and creating new projects with exciting artists and venues — the BYC has been collaborating closely with composers and adventurous venues on large-scale projects that go beyond the scope of the average choral commission.