A hundred musicians are coming to the Island with seven Civil War-era cannon for a concert that ends with Tchaikovsky's exuberant 1812 Overture - and fireworks! The musicians are the New York Philharmonic, which has performed in more than 400 cities around the world but never before on Governors Island. The date: Saturday, July 5. The time: 6:30. The price of admission: It's free.
The orchestra will perform on its own stage - the one it carries around to all its summer concerts - on the newly cleared site of the Coast Guard's old Super 8 Motel at the foot of the "glacis" parade ground.
The orchestra will perform on its own stage - the one it carries around to all its summer concerts - on the newly cleared site of the Coast Guard's old Super 8 Motel at the foot of the "glacis" parade ground.
Their opening and closing numbers bear a striking resemblance, appropriate to the Island's military history - first The Star Spangled Banner,
celebrating the fact that "our flag was still there" after the British
bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor on the night of Sept.
13, 1814. Tchaikovsky's Overture, bringing the program to a noisy end,
commemorates Russia's crucial defense against Napoleon at the Battle of
Borodino, west of Moscow, on Sept. 7, 1812. Tchaikovsky actually wrote
16 cannon shots into the score; five while the orchestra plays a
section of France's La Marseillaise and 11 more as the French are repelled to the tune of God Save the Tsar!
The rest of the program will be Rossini's Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers, Four Dance Episodes from Copland's Rodeo, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espanol and Chabrier's España.
Bramwell Tovey, music director of the Vancouver Symphony, will conduct. He has conducted the Philharmonic's "Summertime Classics" series since it began in 2004, and this year was named the next principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's summer concerts in Hollywood Bowl.
Kate Levin, New York City Commisoner of Cultural Affairs, says of the site and the concert: "Governors Island is an incredible venue for the arts .... [and] this free concert is the highlight of an exciting schedule on the Island this summer." Leslie Koch, president of GIPEC, says, "There is no better place in New York to enjoy an evening of free music on the Fourth of July weekend - with breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor."
There will be continuous ferry service in the afternoon and evening from the Battery Maritime Building, next to the Staten Island ferry at the southern tip of Manhattan. Click here for details.
The rest of the program will be Rossini's Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers, Four Dance Episodes from Copland's Rodeo, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espanol and Chabrier's España.
Bramwell Tovey, music director of the Vancouver Symphony, will conduct. He has conducted the Philharmonic's "Summertime Classics" series since it began in 2004, and this year was named the next principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's summer concerts in Hollywood Bowl.
Kate Levin, New York City Commisoner of Cultural Affairs, says of the site and the concert: "Governors Island is an incredible venue for the arts .... [and] this free concert is the highlight of an exciting schedule on the Island this summer." Leslie Koch, president of GIPEC, says, "There is no better place in New York to enjoy an evening of free music on the Fourth of July weekend - with breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor."
There will be continuous ferry service in the afternoon and evening from the Battery Maritime Building, next to the Staten Island ferry at the southern tip of Manhattan. Click here for details.