FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL (WITH THE BETSY HOTEL) PRESENTS A WORLD PREMIERE AT NEW WORLD SYMPHONY CENTER OF AN ORCHESTRAL WORK BY JEFF BRIGGS SET TO THE POETRY OF HYAM PLUTZIK, WITH ORATION BY ALBERTO CARVALHO, MIAMI-DADE SUPERINTENDENT
(July 2016) The Betsy-South Beach, host hotel and partner for the Miami Music Festival, is pleased to announce the world premiere of an orchestral work set to the poetry of Hyam Plutzik (father of the hotel's owner, Jonathan Plutzik, and the literary inspiration for the hotel's mission), with oration by Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Created by composer Jeff Briggs the festival concert will honor legendary violinist and teacher, Ida Haendel, and feature Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, all led by visionary Festival founder and conductor, Michael Rossi. The event will take place on July 23, 2016 at 7:30 PM at New World Symphony Center. Tickets: https://www.nws.edu/events-tickets/concerts.
ABOUT JEFFERY BRIGGS (Composer)
Jeffery L. Briggs (b. 1957) holds a Doctorate in Musical Composition and Theory from the University of Illinois, Master in Music from Memphis University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Composition and Theory from the Eastman School of Music. Briggs' composition teachers included Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, Joseph Schwantner, Donald Freund, and John Melby. Jeff was awarded the Bernard and Rose Sernoffsky and Louis Lane Prizes for Music Composition at the Eastman School of Music, the Haimsohm Prize for Musical Composition at the University of Memphis, an ASCAP Award, and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. Briggs has had a dual career writing music for acoustic instruments and computer games with more than 50 published titles including the original theme music for the game Civilization. He just completed a long term project to score Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas for String Quartet, with 10 concerts planned over the next 3 years in Miami Beach, performed by The Amernet Quartet, and debuts this summer in Martha’s Vineyard, and next Spring at the Fort Worth Chamber Music Series. jefferylbriggs.com
"I had wanted to set the poetry of this American cold-war-era poet (Hyam Plutzik, (1911-1962) for many years because of the gentle power, vivid imagery, and cunning eloquence of his work. Clarity of meaning and impact of ideas were overriding considerations, and I did not want to risk obscuring the words with melodic lines or elaborate performance techniques. With that in mind, I decided to use the orchestra as a kind of video screen upon which to project musical images as an accompaniment for the narration. Two Poems of Hyam Plutzik was written during 2008-2010 for a celebration of Plutzikʼs life and work that was held in various venues nationally during 2011-2012, a period which represents the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 50th of his death." (Jeffery Briggs, Composer)
ABOUT ALBERTO CARVALHO (Orator)
Alberto M. Carvalho has served as Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation’s fourth largest school system, since September 2008, and received the Broad Prize for Education in 2012. He has served as President of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents; been selected as Florida’s 2014 Superintendent of the Year, as well as the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year; was named by Scholastic Administrator as one of “The Fantastic Five” educators making a difference in America; and is the 2016 winner of the 2016 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, as well as the Magnet Schools of America 2016 Superintendent of the Year. He has recently been appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education to serve a four-year term on the National Assessment Governing Board. Mr. Carvalho has been awarded many honorary degrees including a Doctor of Public Service by Florida International University; Doctor of Humane Letters by both Barry University and Florida Memorial University; and a Doctor of Pedagogy, Honoris Causa from Nova Southeastern University. He has been honored by the President of Portugal with the “Ordem de Mérito Civil” and by Mexico with the “Othli Award”. Mr. Carvalho is a lover of poetry and the arts and has appeared in recent years at a number of public events, reciting the poetry of Hyam Plutzik (as he will do on this concert) and of other of his favorite poets.
ABOUT HYAM PLUZIK (Poet)
Hyam Plutzik (July 13, 1911– January 8, 1962), a three-time Pulitzer prize finalist, was a poet and Professor of English at the University of Rochester. His legacy lives on the Plutzik Poetry Series, now in its 54th year and through the Hyam Plutzik Library for Contemporary Writing, both in Rochester; and in The Writers Room at The Betsy Hotel, a room dedicated to the emergence of poets and writers (in Miami Beach), where visiting writers are invited to sit at his desk and create. Letter From A Young Poet (Watkinson Library/Trinity College), by Hyam Plutzik was released in 2016. Plutzik was a graduate of Trinity College and Yale University. More information: hyamplutzikpoetry.com
ABOUT MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL
The mission of the Miami Music Festival is to provide affordable, world-class musical instruction and groundbreaking performance experiences to young artists and the South Florida region. The launch of the Miami Music Festival in the summer of 2014 received incredible applause from both the community and students alike. This classical music festival is an immersive training ground for talented musicians looking to develop the skills needed to excel in the professional world. Founder and Director of the Festival is Conductor, Michael Rossi. The Festival is housed at Barry University, with performances (also) at The Betsy Hotel and New World Symphony Center. More information: Miamimusicfestival.org
ABOUT The Betsy-South Beach (thebetsyhotel.com) is a boutique hotel located on Ocean Drive that embraces ‘things that matter’ under the auspices of a Philanthropy, Arts, Culture, and Education Program - with a very special focus on poetry, literature, music, and art. Each room at the hotel has a small library, and a poetry bookmark is placed on each guest’s pillow every night. Since reopening in 2009, the hotel has become a catalyst for energized discourse, innovative thinking, and charity, working with hundreds of nonprofit partners. The Betsy is a 2012 and 2015 Knight Foundation Arts Challenge Grant recipient and is host hotel for the Miami Music Festival. (thebetsywritersroom.com). The Betsy is located at 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach.305-760-6900
For more information
Betsy@JPublicRelations.com (Erin Hopkins, Account Manager)
Dbriggs@thebetsyhotel.com (VP, Philanthropy and Community)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A link to an audio version of the orchestral work, by Jeffery Briggs
http://www.hyamplutzikpoetry.com/recordings/
(GO TO LINK, THEN SCROLL DOWN TO FIND THE PIECE)
For more information
Betsy@JPublicRelations.com (Erin Hopkins, Account Manager)
Dbriggs@thebetsyhotel.com (VP, Philanthropy and Community)