LEGEND Hopkinson Smith to Perform in 15th Century Fabbri Mansion in New York City

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- NEW YORK - [20 OCTOBER   2013] WORKHOUSE (workhousepr.com) one of the country's leading public relations and integrated creative agencies, today announced that it has been selected as public relations and marketing agency of record for Salon / Sanctuary Concerts (www.salonsanctuary.org). Founded by Jessica Gould in 2009 as an alternative to the conventional concert hall, Salon / Sanctuary Concerts offers the special chance to hear pre-Romantic music in intimate venues that complement the historical context of the repertoire. Heralded as "Highly original" by the New York Times, "Impeccably curated" by Time Out New York, and "Imaginative" by New York Magazine, the series has forged a path apart from other early music presenters with original interdisciplinary programs featuring luminaries from the worlds of opera, theater, film, and dance. Workhouse will be responsible for domestic media relations for the recital of legendary lutenist Hopkinson Smith, Dowland's Europe: The Winds of Change. Celebratingthe450th anniversary of his birth, the performance will take place on Thursday, 7 November 2013 at the Renaissance Library of the Fabbri Mansion located on 7 East 95th Street. The Library, built during the Renaissance as part of the Ducal Palace of Urbino in Italy, was brought to New York during WWI. This extraordinary event offers a chance to enjoy Renaissance repertoire in an atmosphere of unparalleled authenticity for a United States venue. Interested media who wish to interview Salon / Sanctuary Concerts Artistic Director Jessica Gould or legendary Lutenist Hopkinson Smith, please contact Workhouse, CEO Adam Nelson directly via email  nelson@workhousepr.com or by telephone +1. 646. 205. 3540

HOPKINSON SMITH
Born in New York in 1946, Hopkinson Smith (https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1381945496-dfdd5523dbdf5...) graduated from Harvard with Honors in Music in 1972. The next year he came to Europe to study with Emilio Pujol in Catalonia and Eugen Dombois in Switzerland. He then became involved in numerous chamber music projects including the founding of the ensemble Hespèrion XX. Since the mid-80’s, he has focused almost exclusively on the solo repertoires for early plucked instruments producing a series of prize-winning recordings for Astrée. These feature Spanish music for vihuela and baroque guitar, French lute music of the Renaissance and baroque, early 17th century Italian music and the German high baroque.

The recording of his lute arrangements of the Bach solo violin Sonatas and Partitas, released in the year 2000, has been universally acclaimed by the press. Gramophone magazine called it “the best recording of these works on any instrument”. A Dowland recording, out since early 2005, won a Diapason d’Or and was called ‘wonderfully personal’ in a review in the New York Times. A recording with music from the world of Francesco da Milano, was awarded a Diapason d’Or de l’Année (the French equivalent of a Grammy award) in November 2009 and has been called “the first recording to do justice to Francesco’s reputation.” A CD with the first three Bach ‘cello Suites played on the German Theorbo was released in early 2013 and has also won a Diapason d’Or.

Mr. Smith has performed and given master classes throughout eastern and western Europe, North and South America, Australia, Korea and Japan sometimes combining the life-style of a hermit with that of a gypsy. In 2007 and 2009, he gave concerts and workshops in Palestine under the auspices of the Barenboim-Said Foundation and the Swiss Arts Council. In 2010, he received the music prize from the Italian Region of Puglia with the inscription “maestro dei maestri, massimo interprete delle musiche per liuto dell’antica Europa Mediterranea”. He teaches at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

The Fabbri Mansion (http://www.houseoftheredeemer.org/history.html) was built between 1914 and 1916 to serve as the town residence of Edith Shepard Fabbri, a great granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, and her husband, Ernesto Fabbri, an associate of J. Pierpont Morgan. The House was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury, an American architect and town planner trained at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, noted for the 1908 restoration of New York’s City Hall. The interior decoration, however, was executed by Egisto Fabbri, Ernesto Fabbri’s brother, who incorporated Edith Fabbri’s collection of Italian Renaissance and Baroque furnishings and architectural fragments into his designs. Egisto Fabbri, well versed in the historic aspects of Italian architecture, helped design and decorate the House when it was built. Whole sections of original wood ceilings and the wood paneling of the historic library were transported in two ships from Italy through U-boat infested waters during World War I, and the House was designed and constructed to contain them. The structure’s outstanding architectural feature is the library, a treasure built in the 1400’s for the Ducal palace in Urbino, Italy. The Library boasts a beautifully painted coat of arms, dated 1605-1607, on the vaulted 25 foot high ceiling. There is a monumental fireplace, exquisite paneling, a balustrade gallery, and even a secret passageway.

Founded by Artistic Director Jessica Gould in 2009, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts (https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1381945496-db09729044925b50a99660f7aa8284c8-f438007?pa=565766895951136652) offers the special chance to hear pre-Romantic music in intimate venues that complement the historical context of the repertoire. Pleased to present special projects that cast a light on historical issues through the prism of music, Salon/Sanctuary takes pride in many special interdisciplinary performances featuring luminaries from the worlds of opera, theater, film, and dance. The series has garnered critical praise for its innovative programming, and continues to attract a diverse audience for its path breaking offerings. Past and future soloists on Salon / Sanctuary include countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, soprano Julianne Baird, violinists Monica Huggett, Robert Mealy, and Cynthia Roberts, oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, Harpsichordists Bradley Brookshire, Jory Vinikour, and Kenneth Weiss, NYCB principal dancers Jared Angel and Megan LeCrone, and actors Kathleen Chalfant, Melissa Errico, Ethan Peck, Campbell Scott, and Matthew Modine.