Summergarden, a series of free concerts in The Museum of Modern Art's Abby
Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, opens on July 5, 1996, and continues for
nine summer weekends through August 31. The Sculpture Garden is open free to
the public every Friday and Saturday evening from 6:00 p.m. on, and the
concerts begin at 8:30. Summergarden, an annual tradition since 1971, is made
possible for the fifth year by a generous grant from the Everett B. Birch
Foundation.
This year's series of concerts, entitled Paris: New Music 1896–1996,
explores a wide range of music by Paris-based composers of the past century
whose work was considered innovative for its time. Featured are works by senior
composers such as Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Erik
Satie as well as young contemporary composers who are scarcely known in New
York, such as Pascal Dusapin and Eric Tanguy. The series includes two
Americans: Virgil Thomson and Ned Rorem.
The concerts are performed by young artists and recent graduates of The
Juilliard School of Music, under the artistic direction of conductor and
pianist Joel Sachs. This is the tenth year the Museum and Juilliard have
collaborated on Summergarden.
Of his choice of repertory Dr. Sachs wrote, in the preface to the Summergarden
program: "This festival can only present a sampling of a hundred years of
musical life. It begins with a late work of Ernest Chausson, one of
nineteenth-century Paris's most important composers, and extends through the
young men and women who are at the center of its current musical life,
including all along the way both French and resident foreign composers."
Since 1971 the acclaimed Summergarden series has offered New Yorkers and
visitors an escape from the city in the heart of Manhattan. A tranquil oasis of
trees, fountains, and reflecting pools, the Museum's Sculpture Garden is
renowned for its setting of modern sculptural masterpieces. This summer the
Sculpture Garden features a special installation of works from the Museum's
collection organized by Philip Johnson in conjunction with the exhibition From
Bauhaus to Pop: Masterworks given by Philip Johnson.
Entrance to Summergarden is at 14 West 54 Street. Weekly program information is
available to the public by calling 212/708–9491.
Light refreshments and beverages are offered by Sette MoMA, the Museum's
restaurant, in the Sculpture Garden. Located on the Museum's second floor, the
restaurant also offers dinner from 5:00 to 10:30 p.m.
The Museum galleries are open on Friday evenings until 8:30 p.m. and Saturday
evenings until 6:00 p.m.
For further press information or photographic materials contact Shelia Porter,
Press Representative, 212/874–7887 or Uri Perrin, Department of Communications,
The Museum of Modern Art, 212/708–9757.
