Chelsea Music Festival will present the live album performance from the Chelsea Music Festival Records label, Midsummer Night Magic: an album of music that brings joy and solace through the stories it tells, from The Lee Trio. The album will be performed live as part of the 15th season of the Chelsea Music Festival:”Connecting the Dots,” led by Artistic Directors Melinda Lee Masur and Ken-David Masur, which will trace how music and art allows us to touch what seems intangible, repair what seems broken, and reimagine our interconnectedness with one another. Festival tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
Midsummer Night Magic, which will be released in June 2024 during the festival, is the fourth album released under the Chelsea Music Festival Records label, in which the Lee Trio, comprised of Lisa Lee on violin, Angela Lee on cello, and Melinda Lee Masur on piano, weave the music of Uljas Pulkkis, Edmund Finnis, and Robert Schumann together to tell stories. As described by the Lee Trio, Uljas Pulkkis paints pictures of Finnish childhood legends of Midsummer solstice; Edmund Finnis’ timeless landscape invites us to listen deeply; and Robert Schumann’s music lays the foundation for how the Lee Trio tell their own stories as musicians, mothers, and human beings-with vulnerability, empathy and swelling hope. Album artwork courtesy of visual artist Aliza Williams. To learn more about Midsummer Night Magic, including where to purchase or stream the album, visit https://www.chelseamusicfestival.org/records/midsummer-night-magic.
“It is not just their rich palette of tone colours that marks them out, but also the delicious sense of collusion that animates their ensemble playing. From the outset the players gripped the attention with the immediacy and freshness of their expression” – The STRAD
The album will be performed live on Tuesday, June 25 at 7pm at Czech Center, 321 E. 73rd Street, NYC.
2024 CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL LINE-UP
· Midsummer Night Magic- Visions & Stories
· Tuesday, June 25 at 7pm at Czech Center, 321 E. 73rd Street, NYC
· Selections from The Lee Trio album “Midsummer Night Magic” (Chelsea Music Festival Records label releasing June 2024)
· Fern Flowers by Uljas Pulkkis
· Five Trios by Edmund Finnis
· Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80 by Robert Schumann
· Fantasiestücke, Op. 88 by Robert Schumann
· Austrian duo baritone Daniel Gutmann and pianist Maximilian Kromer performing Liederkreis Op. 24 by Robert Schumann
· Pianist Robert Fleitz performing Märchentänze (“Dances from Fairytale”) – III. A Skylark byThomas Ades
· Performance of the Dumky Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90, B. 166 by Antonín Dvořák (120th anniversary of his death).
ABOUT THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Chelsea Music Festival celebrates great music by convening world-leading musicians & artists in the performing, culinary, and visual arts for an international audience. The Festival invites artists, composers, and performers to collaborate in pursuit of new perspectives in artistic expression. Inspired by its Chelsea roots, the Festival reflects the creativity of one of New York City’s most dynamic neighborhoods. Programs span musical genres ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz with a special emphasis on Festival commissions by composers whose works are not in the traditional western canon. In addition, the Festival hosts an online library of recordings so music enthusiasts, artists, and students alike can explore unique interpretations of classical, jazz, and contemporary works via high-quality videos of world-class performances.
Since 2010, the Festival has established itself as a critically-acclaimed, accessible and interactive gateway to chamber music in non-traditional concert spaces such as art galleries, public squares, schools, and churches. Programming includes concerts, lectures, exhibitions, family events, and free outreach performances. In 2020, the Festival inaugurated its Online Encores and Online Originals YouTube series; Online Encores presents highlights from Festival archives while Online Originals presents new performances and recordings. We are proud to give emerging voices, particularly those of women and people of color, a stage and are working to build an audience and intimate community to support a new generation of musicians, composers, and artists.