T he P ro g ram - Lincoln Center`s American Songbook

The Program
Friday Evening, April 1, 2016, at 8:00
Grace McLean
Justin Goldner, Musical Director and Bass
Hiroyuki Matsuura, Drums and Percussion
Kate Ferber, Jo Lawry, Vocals
Amanda Lo, Violin
Elise Frawley, Viola
Geoffrey Countryman, Saxophone, Clarinet, and Flute
Kris Kukul, Piano
Chorus: Rachael Duddy, Roe Hartrampf, Tom Hennes,
Jo Lampert, Matthew Marsh, Preston Martin,
Barrie McLain, Eric William Morris, Jay Stolar,
Hannah Whitney
Orchestrations by Justin Goldner
Additional Orchestrations by Solomon Hoffman,
Dillon Kondor, Dana Lyn, and Ian Axness
This evening’s program is approximately 75 minutes long and
will be performed without intermission.
Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off.
Major support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by Amy & Joseph Perella.
Endowment support provided by Bank of America
This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.
Steinway Piano
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
American Songbook
Additional support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by The DuBose and
Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The Shubert Foundation, Jill and Irwin B. Cohen,
The G & A Foundation, Inc., Great Performers Circle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of
Lincoln Center.
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Artist catering provided by Zabar’s and zabars.com
MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center
UPCOMING AMERICAN SONGBOOK EVENT:
Tuesday Evening, April 5, at 7:30 in the David Rubenstein Atrium
Rick Barry
The David Rubenstein Atrium is located on Broadway between West 62nd and 63rd
Streets. Shows at the Atrium are free, with seating available on a first-come, first-served
basis.
Call the Lincoln Center Info Request Line at (212) 875-5766 or visit AmericanSongbook.org
for complete program information.
Join the conversation: #LCSongbook
We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might
distract the performers and your fellow audience members.
In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who
must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces.
Flash photography and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.
SHERVIN LAINEZ
Meet the Artists
American Songbook I Meet the Artists
Grace McLean
Grace McLean is an actress, singer, writer, and teacher who has appeared
in Off-Broadway hits like Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812;
Brooklynite; Sleep No More; and Bedbugs!!! She also makes time for her
acclaimed original music, both as a solo artist and with her band, Grace
McLean & Them Apples. With a sound that combines Regina Spektor’s
quirkiness, Nellie McKay’s jazz sensibilities, Fiona Apple’s irreverence,
Kimbra’s sass, and Merrill Garbus’s rhythm, Ms. McLean adds up to one
beautiful weirdo.
Ms. McLean was a headlining performer and instructor at the SingStrong
a capella festivals in Washington, D.C., and Chicago in 2014. Most
recently, Grace McLean & Them Apples opened Lincoln Center’s 2015
American Songbook series and toured Pakistan, sponsored by the U.S.
Department of State. Ms. McLean also collaborates with the Dance Cartel
on its monthly show/dance party OnTheFloor, and her pop opera In the
Green (about the 12th-century German mystic Hildegard von Bingen) has
been developed at CAP21, Space on Ryder Farm, and the Johnny Mercer
Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. In addition, Ms. McLean has performed at Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, Rockwood Music Hall, Ars Nova (where
she developed the interactive concert experience Grace McLean Lives in
Concert), New York City Center, and BAM.
Justin Goldner
Justin Goldner’s (musical director, orchestrations, bass) musical explorations have taken him around the world as a bassist, guitarist, and producer, making music with the likes of Sting, Ricky Martin, Macy Gray,
Hugh Jackman, Steve Martin, Matisyahu, John Turturro, Allison Williams,
Donald Glover, Jesse McCartney, and his mentor, Meshell Ndegeocello.
American Songbook I Meet the Artists
Mr. Goldner also writes, produces, and arranges for various artists with Funky
Butter Productions, including recent recordings for Alice J, Jem and the
Holograms, Saint Adeline, and a forthcoming third album with Grace McLean &
Them Apples. He is bassist for NBC’s America’s Got Talent and was guitarist in
Broadway’s The Bridges of Madison County, and has collaborated closely with
Ms. McLean as bassist, producer, and musical director since 2009.
In addition, Mr. Goldner performs on a litany of string instruments, including
banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, oud, cavaquinho, Puerto Rican cuatro, and Mexican
guitarrón. A restless traveler, he is conversant in eight languages and has gone
in recent years to Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Latin America, and
Turkmenistan, where he performed and conducted music workshops.
Hiroyuki Matsuura
Originally from Tokyo, Hiroyuki Matsuura (drums, percussion) started playing
music in his infancy and concentrated on the drums and percussion in high
school. He began working as a musician while majoring in accounting in college.
After relocating to New York City, he enrolled in jazz performance studies at City
College of New York. He has since appeared at the Kennedy Center, Madison
Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Blue Note, Beacon Theatre, Chicago’s
House of Blues, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Mr. Matsuura has worked with the likes of Hector Maximo Rodriguez (Spanish
Harlem Orchestra), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Bob Lanzetti (Snarky Puppy),
and Liz Swados. He has shared the stage with the Roots and Corey Glover,
among others, and is currently performing in Old Hats at Signature Theatre with
Tony-winning actors Bill Irwin and David Shiner and singer Shaina Taub.
Kate Ferber
Kate Ferber (vocals) is a songwriter and actress who recently performed a soldout run of her one-woman original show, One Child Born: the Music of Laura
Nyro, at the American Repertory Theater’s Oberon space. She also led the
Urchins in the Cleveland Play House’s Little Shop of Horrors, and is recording
the forthcoming EP The Great Thaw.
Jo Lawry
Jo Lawry (vocals) grew up on an almond farm in South Australia and, after a brief
flirtation with operatic study, began her formal instruction in jazz. She was
awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in New York, was an artist in Carnegie
Hall’s Musical Connections program, and served as artist-in-residence at the
Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Ms. Lawry’s debut album, I Want to Be
American Songbook I Meet the Artists
Happy, was named one of the best CDs of the decade by DownBeat magazine,
and her latest album, Taking Pictures, was released in March 2015. She is the
vocalist for the Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra, and has been featured on numerous modern-jazz recordings, including Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Rise Up! and Kate
McGarry’s Grammy-nominated If Less Is More…Nothing Is Everything. Since
2009 Ms. Lawry has been touring and recording with Sting and more recently
with Paul Simon. In 2013 she was featured in the film 20 Feet from Stardom,
which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Amanda Lo
Amanda Lo (violin) is an acoustic and electric violinist based in New York City.
She studied with Stephanie Chase at New York University before earning her
bachelor’s degree in violin performance in 2011. Ms. Lo is the violinist for the
heavy-metal string quartet seven)suns and rock band the Ludlow Thieves. She
is also concertmaster and orchestral contractor of the Manhattan Camerata
chamber orchestra, and has soloed with the Chelsea Symphony, Metro
Chamber Ensemble, and the Westchester Philharmonic. She has recorded and
performed with artists including Amanda Brown, Bill Whelan, Björk, Colin Smith,
Efterklang, Harry Connick Jr., Paul Simon, Ra Ra Riot, Rihanna, and Sufjan
Stevens. On television Ms. Lo has appeared on America’s Got Talent and The
Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In addition, she serves as the director of special programs and outreach for the nonprofit Sympho, Inc.
Elise Frawley
Elise Frawley (viola) has performed in a variety of venues, from Carnegie Hall to
Rockwood Music Hall. She currently serves as principal viola for the Chelsea
Symphony. She has also performed with Ensemble LPR, Wordless Music
Orchestra, and Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, among others. Additionally, Ms.
Frawley has performed/recorded with pop and contemporary artists, including
Paul Simon, Andrew Bird, Pink Martini, Sweet Electra, Lady Lamb the
Beekeeper, Atomic Tom, and Jordan Knight. She is a member of Tubafresh, a
chamber hip-hop ensemble that fuses elements of electronic, jazz, and classical
music. Her television and film appearances include America’s Got Talent, Stan
Lee’s Superhumans, and Mozart in the Jungle. Ms. Frawley received her bachelor of music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and her master of
music degree from New York University, where she also served as adjunct
instructor of viola.
Geoffrey Countryman
Geoffrey Countryman (saxophone, clarinet, flute) is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and engineer. He attended New York
University’s jazz performance program, and has worked with artists such as
American Songbook I Meet the Artists
Katreese Barnes, Patti LaBelle, Wu-Tang Clan, Ronnie Spector, Tina Fey, and
Leon Pendarvis. Mr. Countryman has performed regularly with the Saturday
Night Live Band and Chico Hamilton’s Euphoria as well as with his own band,
Countryman and the Buffalo Band. He was assistant producer to Lenny
Pickett for Kenny Werner’s Lawn Chair Society (Blue Note Records) and Dave
Douglas’s High Risk (Greenleaf Music), and is a soloist on hip-hop artist T.I.’s
Grammy-nominated album King (Atlantic Records). Mr. Countryman can be
seen in Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe and NBC’s Smash. His studio,
Geoff & Tyler Recording, is responsible for four Grammy-nominated albums.
Kris Kukul
Kris Kukul (piano) is a music director, composer, arranger, orchestrator, and
conductor. His current projects include Saint Joan (Public Theater), Songbird,
and The Last Goodbye (The Old Globe, Williamstown). For 10 seasons he was
resident music director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. For 15 years he
worked as arranger and musical director for Elizabeth Swados; their work
together included Kaspar Hauser, Jabu, The Nomad, and Revolting Rhymes.
Recent theatrical projects include Darko Tresnjak’s production of Kiss Me,
Kate; The Heart of Robin Hood; June Moon; and Animal Crackers. In New York
City he has also worked at Shakespeare in the Park, Vineyard Theatre,
Playwrights Horizons, La Mama, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, New York Theatre
Workshop, and Manhattan Theatre Club. His studio/film work includes My
Depression: The Up and Down and Up of It for HBO and Of Many. Both premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. As a composer, Mr. Kukul has written
music for Camp Monster and Wing It!, both of which premiered at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival, and A Midsummer Night Dream in Athens.
American Songbook
In 1998, Lincoln Center launched American Songbook, dedicated to the celebration of popular American song. Designed to highlight and affirm the creative mastery of America’s songwriters from their emergence at the turn of
the 19th century up through the present, American Songbook spans all styles
and genres, from the form’s early roots in Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to the
eclecticism of today’s singer-songwriters. American Songbook also showcases the outstanding interpreters of popular song, including established and
emerging concert, cabaret, theater, and songwriter performers.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of
American Songbook
more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals
including American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival,
Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart
Festival, and the White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award–winning
Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As manager of the
Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln
Center complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a
$1.2 billion campus renovation, completed in October 2012.
Lincoln Center Programming Department
Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director
Hanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming
Jon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming
Jill Sternheimer, Director, Public Programming
Lisa Takemoto, Production Manager
Charles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Mauricio Lomelin, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Regina Grande, Associate Producer
Amber Shavers, Associate Producer, Public Programming
Nana Asase, Assistant to the Artistic Director
Luna Shyr, Senior Editor
Nick Kleist, Company Manager
Olivia Fortunato, House Seat Coordinator
For American Songbook
Rocky Noel, Lighting Design
Scott Stauffer, Sound Design
Kyle Moore, Sound Engineer