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Michael Feinstein
Michael Feinstein and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra joined forces over two days to record a collection of American standards. The album will be released later this year in anticipation of the Palladium concert hall’s grand opening. Proceeds from sales of the CD will benefit the Center for the Performing Arts.
“A big part of The Center’s mission is to create new works of art,” said Steven B. Libman, President and CEO of the Center for the Performing Arts. “Pairing our Artistic Director (Michael Feinstein) with one of our resident organizations (Carmel Symphony Orchestra) is exactly the type of collaboration we want to nurture and encourage. In the coming months and years we will work not only with local artists but with performers from around the world. We want to commission original symphonies, dance, theater, jazz and chamber pieces.”
Feinstein and the 95-member Carmel Symphony Orchestra, conducted by CSO Artistic Director David Bowden, PhD., recorded 20 songs on August 20 and August 21. The recording sessions were held in the auditorium at Westfield High School. The song list included “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Dream A Little Dream of Me” and “No One is Alone.” The recording session marked the second time Feinstein and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra performed together. Previously, Feinstein and the orchestra presented a live fundraising concert in October 2009.
The Carmel Symphony Orchestra and Michael Feinstein are slated to perform together at the Palladium’s grand opening gala on January 29, 2011. The gala concert will include jazz instrumentalist Chris Botti and musical icon Neil Sedaka. The festivities will be produced by Gordon Hunt, with lighting by Tom Ruzika.
Feinstein, dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” was named as The Center’s first Artistic Director in 2009. The singer, songwriter and pianist is a five-time Grammy nominee. The Feinstein Foundation for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook will have its permanent home at the Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts. Feinstein also plans to host an annual international Great American Songbook Festival in Carmel.
The CSO, a resident arts organization at The Center, has earned a regional reputation for excellence in artistry and community service. The orchestra is comprised of professional and formally trained musicians who share a joy of making music, with the vast majority studying privately through college and, in many cases, beyond. More than half of the musicians have been with the orchestra for 15 years or longer, and since 2005, all new members of the CSO are accepted into the orchestra through an audition process.
The Center for the Performing Arts, which is currently under construction in The Carmel City Center, will include the 1,600-seat Palladium concert hall, the 500-seat Tarkington proscenium theater and a 200-seat studio theater. The Palladium is set for completion in January of 2011 and no other concert hall of its caliber exists in the area. The Center is being built to serve as a permanent fixture on the Central Indiana landscape and will provide an extraordinary listening experience for audiences. The concert hall will also be home to the Michael Feinstein Foundation’s Great American Songbook Collection, acting as a museum and education center by day and a concert venue by night.
