Spring Gala Featuring Commissioned Work By Composer Lee Hyla

World premiere of a composition by Lee Hyla with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

The Spring Gala celebrates Japan Society’s First Commission Concert. Made possible by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Society’s new Commissioning Program seeks to engage important American artists with Japan’s rich creative culture, past and present. The first commission, facilitated with the assistance of a panel of distinguished American composers, was awarded to Lee Hyla, who spent time in Japan during the summer of 2002. His new piece is inspired by the legendary noh play Matsukaze, and is scored for mezzo-soprano and six instruments, including Japanese drums. The work will be premiered by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is the resident company at Lincoln Center under the guidance of Artistic Director David Shifrin. In addition to the Hyla premiere, the program includes Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata; Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello and Chansons Madecasses; and Toru Takemitsu’s Rocking Mirror Daybreak.

The Gala ticket, which includes a champagne reception with the artists, will help the Society match a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for a Performing Arts Endowment. It will also enable the Society to continue its Commissioning Program providing the opportunity for American performing artists to make meaningful connections with Japanese culture and with their contemporaries in Japan.

Gala ticket, $125 ($100 is tax-deductible), includes a champagne reception with the artists. Performance-only ticket, $25.

For more details about the Gala, please call (212) 715-1219.

The Japan Society gallery, currently featuring Transmitting the Forms of Divinity: Early Buddhist Art from Korea and Japan, will be open until 8 pm for ticket holders of this event.