The Votes Are In!
2024 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → Online Holiday Entertainment from The Soraya
Arcadia Weekly Nov 19, 2020
by
share with
Manual Cinema’s “Christmas Carol.” Streaming Dec. 11-13. | Photo courtesy of The Soraya
Innovative and unique online programing continues this holiday season at The Soraya with several not-to-be-missed performances and events.
For more information about all attractions, visit thesoraya.org.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Front Row, Streaming Dec. 4-9
Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center returns, virtually, with three newly curated full-length HD concerts from their Front Row series to enjoy with the family from the comfort of home. These never-before-heard concert pairings feature soloists whose performances The New York Times has called “intensely committed” and the BBC has called the Society “prestigious beyond belief.”
CMS Front Row was originally conceived in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to perform for live audiences in the concert hall. This fall, in addition to the beautifully shot, carefully curated full-length performance videos, new content is being created to accompany and complement the archival concert series. CMS Front Row was created to sustain audiences and provide a new way to experience this beautiful art form in a meaningful and innovative way, from the virtual “Front Row,” in the comfort and safety of listeners’ homes.
Artist Series: Alessio Bax & Lucille Chung (Pianos)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto No. 14 in E flat major for piano and string quintet, K. 449.
Béla Bartók: Sonata for two pianos and percussion.
Musicians: Alessio Bax, Lucille Chung, Bella Hristova, Arnaud Sussmann, Paul Neubauer, Sophie Shao, Joseph Conyers, Ayano Kataoka, and David Rosenbaum.
Artist Series: Gloria Chien (Piano)
John Field: Nocturne No. 2 in C minor for piano.
Franz Liszt: Grand duo concertant sur le “Le Marin” (Vln & Pf).
Felix Mendelssohn: Piano quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 1.
Musicians: Gloria Chien, Benjamin Beilman, Sean Lee, Richard O’Neill, and Narek Hakhnazaryan.
Artist Series: Arnaud Sussmann (Violin)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049.
Ernest Chausson: Concerto in D major for violin, piano, and string quartet, Op. 21.
Musicians: Arnaud Sussmann, Hyeyeon Park, Wu Han, Francisco Fullana, Bella Hristova, Kristin Lee, Yura Lee, Richard O’Neill, Dmitri Atapine, Nicholas Canellakis, Xavier Foley, Sooyun Kim, and Tara Helen O’Connor.
Additional member exclusive: live discussion with artists from Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alessio Bax, Lucille Chung, Gloria Chien, and Arnaud Sussmann, moderated by The Soraya’s Executive Director Thor Steingraber on Friday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. As an additional benefit for members, the concert will be available on-demand from Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. thru Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. Viewing details will be emailed to all qualifying members of The Soraya.
Members at $120/annual level or higher receive access to these and other online events. Learn more about becoming a member at thesoraya.org.
Manual Cinema’s ‘Christmas Carol,’ Streaming Dec. 11-13
The Soraya brings a rare holiday treat – a series of live performances from the magical world of Manual Cinema. Last here in 2018, The Soraya’s audiences will not forget the imaginative storytelling and spectacular imagery created on The Soraya stage. This holiday season, the company takes on Charles Dickens’ classic with a visually inventive adaptation made to broadcast.
The story is told by Aunt Trudy, an avowed holiday skeptic. On Christmas Eve, during quarantine, she has been recruited to entertain her family with a puppet show on a Zoom call. The puppets soon take on a life of their own, and the family’s call transforms into a stunning cinematic adaptation of the classic ghost story. In signature Manual Cinema fashion, hundreds of paper puppets, miniatures, silhouettes, and an original live score will come together to tell an imaginative re-invention of this cherished holiday classic. Each show will be performed live in Manual Cinema’s Chicago studio in a socially distanced manner and live-streamed to audiences at home. The stream will be delivered by Marquee TV.
Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award-winning performance collective, design studio, and film/ video production company that combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive stories for stage and screen. Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality.
