Our April SUNDAY SALON is a week from tomorrow, April 19, at The Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 West 43 Street, second floor. We meet from 2-5pm and all are invited and encouraged to attend. Again we will be privileged to have a special guest: the Salon will feature a presentation by the esteemed composer Raoul Pleskow. Still composing at age 78, he will be speaking about changes in his personal compositional style over time, and will discuss his own life in music and his great wealth of knowledge of new music spanning many years. He will present his latest composition “Dialogue for Three Instruments.” 

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Baritone RICARDO RIVERA has several performances of note upcoming in April. He will be singing a new piece for Baritone and Orchestra on April 13th at 8:30 with the Arts Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Stilian Kirov. Featuring new works by composition students at Juilliard and other new works including: Soliloquio en las Olas (2009) for Baritone and Orchestra, composed by Reinaldo Moya (b.1984) with a text by Pablo Neruda. Monday, April 13th, 8:30 PM, The Juilliard School, Room 309, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza (at Broadway), third floor. Admission is free, no reservations necessary.

Ricardo will also be featured in “Chromatic Voice Exchange” with conductor Saya Callner. Featuring new works for choir by composition students at Mannes and other works, including: We Are Five Friends, composed by Ronnie Reshef, a dramatic work for five solo singers and percussion on a text by Kafka. He’ll also perform a song for baritone, clarinet, and piano, Shlosha Yamim (Three Days), composed by Ronnie Reshef with a text by Lea Goldberg. This event will be held Sunday, April 19th, 7:30 PM, at Mannes College of Music, Goldmark Hall on the third floor. Admission is free, no reservations necessary.

Ricardo will perform in a chamber opera, Borges and the Other #2, composed by Matthew Welch on a text by Jorge Luis Borges. The conductor is Matthew Welch, featuring his eclectic ensemble Blarvuster. Tenor Nick Hallett is also featured in this performance. Friday, April 24th, 8:30 PM at Roulette, 20 Greene Street (between Canal and Grand). 

Admission: $15 / Harvestworks & DTW members, 

Students, Under 30 & Seniors: $10; 

Roulette members / Location One members: FREE.

Reservations/Tickets: 212.219.8242 

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RICHARD BROOKS thought the NYCC readership would be interested to know about the world premiere of a new play about the life and music of Virgil Thomson. It is called Oh Virgil! A Theatrical Portrait written by Wallace Norman in collaboration with Larry Alan Smith. A two-week limited engagement will run May 1 thru May 10.  The play is produced by Woodstock Fringe in association with Judson Arts. You can learn more about this production at www.woodstockfringe.org. Tickets ($18, group rates available) can be ordered at that website or by calling (845) 810-0123. The venue is Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South (corner of West 4^th Street and Thompson Street). Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm.