North/South Chamber Orchestra sets free summer concert in NYC

By AI, Created 7:51 PM UTC, June 02, 2026, /AGP/ – The North/South Chamber Orchestra will kick off summer with a free concert June 9 at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church in Manhattan. The program features four contemporary works and violinist Garry Ianco as soloist, with admission first-come, first-served.

Why it matters: - The North/South Chamber Orchestra is offering a no-cost summer concert in Manhattan, making contemporary chamber music accessible without a ticket barrier. - The program spotlights composers from Germany, Italy, the United States and the Netherlands, giving the audience a broad cross-section of new music. - Violinist Garry Ianco’s solo appearance centers the evening around a newly written concerto built for his playing.

What happened: - The North/South Chamber Orchestra scheduled a free concert for Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. in New York City. - The performance will take place at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, 129 West 69th Street, and is expected to run until about 8:30 p.m. - Admission will be first-come, first-served, with no tickets or reservations required. - The concert will feature works by Dorothee Eberhardt, Gianmaria Griglio, Max Lifchitz and Jonathan McNair. - Violinist Garry Ianco will appear as soloist.

The details: - The concert is positioned as a summer-season celebration. - Christ & St. Stephen’s Church is described as acoustically excellent and air-conditioned for audience comfort. - Dorothee Eberhardt’s Unterwegs/On the Way is a three-movement work with a fast opening, a turbulent slow movement and a virtuosic finale. - Eberhardt studied at Trinity College in London and Goldsmiths College, University of London, and was a finalist in the 2023 Krzysztof Penderecki International Composers’ Competition in Radom, Poland. - Gianmaria Griglio is the Artistic Director of ARTax Music in the Netherlands. - Griglio trained as a conductor under Harold Farberman at Bard College and has led music programs tied to the International Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, the International Lyric Competition Città di Saluzzo and the Diderot Project at the Teatro Nuovo in Turin. - Griglio’s Violin Concerto follows a fast-slow-fast structure and was written specifically for Ianco. - Max Lifchitz has performed widely as a pianist in Europe and the Americas. - Lifchitz has received grants and fellowships from ASCAP, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the University of Michigan Society of Fellows, the New York State Individual Artists Program and the National Endowment for the Arts. - Lifchitz’s Fire Within was written in response to the death of Heather Heyer during the Charlottesville, Virginia, events on Aug. 12, 2017. - Jonathan McNair is U.C. Foundation Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he coordinates music theory and directs the biennial Contemporary Music Symposium. - McNair’s These Three was written in memory of Christian Sinclair Rushing and is described as a lyrical, accessible single-movement tone poem. - Garry Ianco’s career spans studio recordings, Broadway shows and orchestral and concerto performances. - Ianco has served as concertmaster for the Albany Symphony, the Hamptons Festival of Music, N/S Consonance, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra and Terpsikord. - Ianco was concertmaster for Cameron Mackintosh’s production of The Phantom of the Opera. - Ianco’s Broadway credits include Miss Saigon, Cats, Carousel, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, West Side Story and Spamalot. - North/South Consonance, Inc. has operated since 1980 and focuses on music by composers from the Americas and around the world. - The organization’s programming is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and grants from the Music Performance Fund, the Zethus Fund and the BMI Foundation. - More information is available on the North/South Consonance website. - The organization also listed an Apple Music page, a YouTube channel and a Facebook page.

Between the lines: - The concert mixes repertory and advocacy, pairing new works with a free-admission model that broadens access. - The Ianco concerto suggests the program is also designed as a showcase for a specific performer, not just a standard orchestral presentation. - The inclusion of music tied to Heather Heyer and Christian Sinclair Rushing gives the evening an explicit memorial dimension beyond a seasonal celebration.

What’s next: - North/South Chamber Orchestra will present the concert on June 9 and resume its broader programming for the season. - The organization directs audiences to its website for further programming information.

The bottom line: - The June 9 concert offers an accessible Manhattan night of contemporary chamber music, with a solo violin spotlight and a program that blends new composition, memorial themes and seasonal kickoff energy.