WASHINGTON SQUARE MUSIC FESTIVAL
CELEBRATES 60 WITH HARP AND NARRATION
On Tuesday, June 12 at 8 pm, on the Main Stage in Washington Square, the Washington Square Music Festival celebrates the Festival’s 60th season of free concerts by offering harpist Mélanie Genin performing works by Nino Rota and Debussy, with Laila Salins reading politely erotic poems by Pierre Louÿs to accompany Les Chansons de Bilitis. The Festival is under the auspices of the Washington Square Association, Inc. Lutz Rath, Music Director. Seating is first come, first served. This is the second of four free concerts.
WASHINGTON SQUARE MUSIC FESTIVAL: JUNE 12
www.washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org
info@washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org
Main Stage, Washington Square Park, Manhattan – FREE
Rainspace: Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South
June 12, 8 pm:
The Festival Chamber Ensemble
Mélanie Genin, harp soloist
Laila Salins, narrator
June 12, 8 pm:
The Festival Chamber Ensemble
Mélanie Genin, harp soloist
Laila Salins, narrator
Nino Rota: Quintet for flute, oboe viola, cello and harp
Claude Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane for harp and strings
Sergei Prokofiev: Quintet op 39 for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass
Debussy: Les Chansons de Bilitis - Six épigraphes antiques for harp, flute and narration - arrangement Genin-Gregory
Hailed by the Epoch Times as a “singular virtuoso with an exquisitely sensitive playing” Mélanie Genin, is a French harpist currently based in New York. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in the Debussy Dances for harp and orchestra as a first prizewinner of the International Shining stars series.
An international representative of the French harp school, she is the only harpist finalist of the 2014 prestigious Concert Artist Guild competition of New York and a semifinalist of the 2014 International Young artist competition. Ms. Genin is also very dedicated to gaining a larger audience for the harp and developing its repertoire. A fervent advocate of new music she has commissioned several pieces, and premiered several works of composers such as Wei-Chieh Lin, Jules Matton and Yuri Boguinia.
With her impeccable and beautiful playing she has quickly become a major actor of the New York musical scene. She has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world including: Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Concertgebow –Amsterdam-, Royal Albert Hall –London, among others.
She is a recipient of the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation, Artistic Ambassador of Champagne Ardennes Region’s chair. Future engagements include the premiere of two new works for solo harp, a collaboration with the Evermay Ensemble in Washington DC, and concerts in France and Austria.