Pre-order The Runaway Bunny from amazon

In honor of Margaret Wise Brown's 100th Birthday, The InterSchool Orchestra of New York (ISO) (www.isorch.org) in association with GPR Records (Glen Roven, Peter Fitzgerald, Richard Cohen, artistic directors) have announced a live concert based on Brown's two best selling children's books Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. The free of charge concert will take place at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park on Mother's Day, May 9, 2010 at 3:30pm and GPR Records will release a live recording of the concert on Margaret Wise Brown's actual 100th birthday, May 23, 2010. The CD will be available at www.GPRRecords.com, Amazon, and iTunes.

Composed by GPR Records artistic director and 4-time Emmy Award Winner Glen Roven, GOODNIGHT MOON, A Lullaby for Soprano and Orchestra will be sung by international Opera superstar and beloved New Yorker Lauren Flanigan in the new concerto. The InterSchool Orchestra of New York (ISO) (www.isorch.org), New York's most prestigious youth orchestra, will accompany Ms. Flanigan in the Bandshell and the concert will be conducted by Julliard's George Stelluto. GOODNIGHT MOON, A Lullaby for Soprano and Orchestra is based on Wise's book, in print for over 60 years.

Also on the recording will be Roven's companion piece, RUNAWAY BUNNY, a Concerto for Violin, Reader and Orchestra. The piece will be read by Kate Mulgrew. RUNAWAY BUNNY has been performed all over the world and narrators have included: Brooke Shields, Glenn Close, Sandy Duncan, Donna McKechnie, and Phyllis Newman. This piece premiered at Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra, with Glenn Close narrating. Runaway Bunny was written in 1942 and has been published continuously since that time.

Renowned flutist Carol Wincenc will also join the ISO Symphony in the park as she continues to celebrate her 40th year of performing this season. In addition, the ISO's youngest two groups, The Morningside and Turtle Bay Orchestras lead by Robert Johnston, will open the Mother's Day celebration

"Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny are national treasures and many of us remember them from growing up," said GPR Records Producer and composer Glen Roven. "Having Lauren Flanigan and Kate Mulgrew be part of this concert really solidifies GPR Records' goal of creating wonderfully new and sophisticated products for children. We're so pleased to be able to honor Margaret Wise Brown with this recording."

"The ISO is very honored to be part of such a momentous occasion," said Nora Gibson, Executive Director of the ISO. "We are thrilled to be able to celebrate Margaret Wise Brown's 100th Birthday with these two concert pieces."
 

The GOODNIGHT MOON and RUNAWAY BUNNY CD will be released on May 23rd (Margaret Wise Brown's 100th Birthday) and will be available at www.GPRRecords.com, Amazon, and iTunes.
 

BIOS

The InterSchool Orchestras of New York (ISO), The InterSchool Orchestras of New York (ISO), which is in its 38th year as a premier youth orchestra program, consists of five graded orchestras, a?symphonic band and a chamber music program. Our award-winning ensembles are comprised of close to 300 students that truly reflect the face of New York City, representing a multitude of ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds. 

Passionate about music and its ability to change lives, ISO programs also include a series of partnerships and a multi-faceted financial aid and scholarship program dedicated to bringing orchestral experiences to children who traditionally have not ?had access to instrumental instruction. ISO offers more than 30 concerts each year throughout the City, including venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, community centers and nursing homes, and concerts offered to New York City public schools free of charge.

Lauren Flanigan Renowned for her musical talents from the bel canto to Berio, Soprano Lauren Flanigan has firmly established herself as a unique musical presence in the world today. Named by TIME magazine as, "the thinking man's diva" and awarded by ASCAP and the Center for Contemporary Opera for her commitment to performing the works of living composers she has also been equally recognized as one of the leading interpreters of the early operas of Verdi including Attila, Giovanna D'Arco, Nabucco, Macbeth, I Lombardi, and La Traviata. Her repertory has included performances of more than 100 operas including Nabucco (La Scala, Teatro San Carlo, New Japan Opera, Artscape South Africa, Cincinnati Opera, Carnegie Hill), Macbeth (La Scala, Opera Company of Philadelphia, NYCO), I Lombardi, La Boheme, The Ghosts of Versailles (Metropolitan Opera), Norma (Cincinnati Opera, Manaus), Intermezzo (NYCO, Glimmerglass), Prince Igor (San Francisco Opera), Midsummer Marriage (Bayerische Staatsoper), Euryanthe (Glyndebourne Festival), Venus und Adonis (Santa Fe Opera, Concertgebuow), Maria Stuarda (Opera Orchestra of New York), Roberto Devereaux (NYCO), Rusalka (Metropolitan Opera), Mourning Becomes Electra (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, NYCO), Don Giovanni (Baltimore Opera Company, Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass, Cincinnati Opera), Esther, The Mother of Us All, Seven Deadly Sins, Lillith, Lizzie Borden, Central Park, Mathis der Maler, La Boheme (NYCO), Peter Ibbetson, Merrymount (Seattle Symphony), Regina (Florida Grand Opera, BARD Summerscape), Fierrabras, Oberon, Giovanna D'Arco, Nabucco (Collegiate Chorale).

Kate Mulgrew Internationally recognized as ‘Captain Janeway,' the first female captain of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Voyager (Golden Satellite and Saturn Awards), Mulgrew's career spans film, television, and the stage. Classically trained, she received a Golden Globe nomination at the age of 23 when she portrayed ‘Mrs. Columbo,' the wife of the famous detective. Other notable television appearances include Kate Loves A Mystery, Cheers, Murphy Brown, St. Elsewhere, Ryan's Hope and The Black Donnellys. Film roles include Throw Momma from the Train (opposite Billy Crystal and Danny Devito), Star Trek: Nemesis, A Stranger is Watching, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and The Response. Mulgrew has toured throughout the United States as Katherine Hepburn in her stage play, Tea at Five, for which she was nominated for Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel awards. Other theater credits include Equus, The American Dream, The Sandbox, Iphigenia 2.0 (for which she won an Obie), Our Leading Lady, Black Comedy, and Titus Andronicus, all in New York. She performed in The Exonerated in London and regionally in The Royal Family, The Film Society, What the Butler Saw, Hedda Gabler, Measure for Measure, The Real Thing, Another Part Of The Forest and Major Barbara. She recently completed the film, The Best and the Brightest, slated for release later this year, and can currently be seen on the NBC series Mercy.

ISO alum ('86) Robert L. Johnston is Director of ISO's Morningside and ISO at Turtle Bay Orchestras. His ISO orchestras have been featured in Ari L. Goldman's New York Times article "Big Cello, Little Cello," and David E. Myers' "Beyond Tradition II," originally published by the American Symphony Orchestra League. Mr. Johnston has been Director of String Studies at St. Francis Preparatory School since 1997, where his orchestras have appeared on The Prayer Channel (NET), and performed for the likes of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, President and Mrs. Clinton, Vice-President and Mrs. Cheney, and Mayor Bloomberg. In addition to his teaching duties, he the Co-Internal Coordinator for Prep's upcoming re-accreditation. A native New Yorker, he holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Lehman College.

American conductor George Edward Stelluto is known for his engaging, energetic performances of repertoire ranging from the Baroque to present day. As Resident Conductor for the Juilliard School, he gives frequent performances at Lincoln Center with the Juilliard Orchestra and the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony. He also serves as Assistant Conductor of the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony, interim director of New York's Inter School Orchestras, advisor to Sinfonia por La Vida in Ecuador (based on Venezuela's Il Sistema), and will finish a five month residency with the Columbia University Orchestra this April. His broad musical interests take him around the world as a guest conductor with professional orchestras, new music ensembles, and prestigious youth orchestras including the National Philharmonic of Ecuador, New York City Ballet, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Ukrainian National Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Beijing Conservatory.

Peter Fitzgerald Founding partner in GPR Records, a new recording company devoted to classic and unexpected works. Peter is a noted Broadway sound designer represented currently by, Looped and All About Me. A prolific designer including last season's: Will Farrell's Your Welcome America, Blithe Spirit, Speed the Plow, and such past designs as: New York Philharmonic's production of My Fair Lady, in 2006 and Camelot in 2007. Billy Joel's Movin' Out, La Cage Aux Folles, Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews, City of Angels, Gypsy, Falsettos, Paul Simon's The Capeman, The Will Rogers Follies, Swing, Minnelli on Minnelli with Liza, Dream, Threepenny Opera with Sting, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas to name a few. Noted plays: The Odd Couple, M. Butterfly, Stones in His Pockets, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Thousand Clowns. Peter is President and co-owner of Sound Associates, Inc a premier provider of sound and video systems to the theater and business community with locations is New York, Yonkers, and Atlanta. He was instrumental in developing the recording studio at the New York location, home of GPR Records. Peter and his wife, Maritza, are the proud parents of daughters Lori and Mallori.

Glen Roven, a four-time Emmy winner, recently conducted his Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall and will accompany Baritone Mark Stone this season at Carnegie when Stone performs a full evening of Roven's music. He has conducted The Israel Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Munich Philharmonic, The Radio Luxembourg Orchestra, The American Symphony, as well as many others. He has produced for Julie Andrews, Kathleen Battle, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Quincy Jones, Kermit the Frog, Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross to name a few. Career highlights include conducting the original Broadway production of Sugar Babies, conducting four Presidential Inaugurations, conducting Frank Sinatra's last television appearance and Sammy Davis Jr,'s last televised appearance. Next season sees the debut of his Broadway musical, Dr. Seuss's The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Richard Cohen has broad and extensive experience in theater, television and film as a producer, designer and theater tech. His career in live theater began at The Metropolitan Opera in 1968, on Broadway, from Company in 1970 to Smokey Joe's Cafe in 2000. Richard has designed video projections on Broadway for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Legend. He coordinated lighting for arena shows and industrials. His television credits include soaps, news, variety shows and commercials for every brand of detergent on the market. Richard produced a TV pilot, The Tatler in 1981. His film credits include, among others, "Billy Bathgate" and "The Thomas Crown Affair". Outside the biz, developed real estate in New Jersey.

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