The Watermill Concert 2008: Last Song of Summer will bring together three artists exceptionally capable of channeling emotion in their music, offering audiences an opportunity to experience them in the singular environs of The Watermill Center, Robert Wilson’s secluded Southampton laboratory for the creative process. On Saturday, August 30 at 4:00 pm, Rufus Wainwright, with his special guest Jessye Norman, will headline the concert, which will begin with a set by the highly acclaimed songwriter and singer Daniel Knox.
The event’s co-chairs include Lisa Anastos, Martin Dawson, Amanda Hearst, Tobias Meyer, Shamim M. Momin, Dalia Oberlander and Viktor & Rolf.
Tickets range from $125 to $500, the latter price including access to a backstage meet-and-greet with the artists after the show.
The Watermill Center is located at 39 Watermill Towd Road in Watermill, New York. The evening will begin with cocktails at 4:00 pm. Daniel Knox will perform at 4:30 pm, followed by Rufus Wainwright with Jessye Norman at 5:30 pm.
The Watermill Concert 2008: Last Song of Summer is sponsored by Viktor and Rolf Perfumes and Sotheby’s, with additional support by Brooks Brothers. Treats by Oliver Cheng Catering and Events, drinks by Champagne Pieper-Heidsick, Ketel One, Peroni, TY-KU, VOSS Water and GuS – Grown-up Soda.
About Rufus Wainwright
Affectionately referred to by Elton John as “the greatest songwriter on the planet” and praised by The New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. He has released eight albums and two DVDs to date, as well as appearing on numerous soundtracks and compilations and collaborating with artists including Elton John, David Byrne, Burt Bacharach and Pet Shop Boys. Wainwright’s latest album is a live recording from his Carnegie Hall concert, Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall, and has been released concurrently with a live DVD, Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!, which captures his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium earlier this year. His previous album, Release The Stars, has achieved Gold sales status in Canada and the U.K.
About Jessye Norman
For her vast body of work?including recital performances, operatic portrayals and appearances with symphony orchestras and chamber music collaborators?Jessye Norman has been praised by The New York Times as “an amazing voice, a catalogue of all that is virtuous in singing.” She has long collaborated with other artists on the cutting edge of various fields: Robert Wilson, Andre Heller, Bill T. Jones and Steve McQueen, to name a few. Norman’s recent performances include a staged version of Schubert’s Winterreise by Robert Wilson and a unique double bill of Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, staged by André Heller.
Norman is the recipient of many awards and honors. In 1997, she garnered a Kennedy Center Honor, making history as the youngest recipient in the Honors’ 20-year existence. Norman’s many other prestigious distinctions include honorary doctorates at some 30 colleges, universities and conservatories around the world. In 1984, the French government bestowed upon her the title Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris named an orchid for her. In 2006, she became the fourth opera/classical music singer in the 48-year history of the GRAMMY Awards to be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music. In 2007, Norman was elected fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences at a ceremony at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has been deemed a Living Landmark of New York City by the Landmarks Conservancy, and was awarded the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for the Arts by the State University of New York at Purchase College.
In 2008, Norman has presented recitals in Germany and France?as well as at Carnegie Hall and UCLA’s Royce Hall?under the themed rubric The Five Seasons (Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall and the eternal season, Love). In June, she opened the World Festival of Sacred Music in Fez, Morocco. In October, she will perform the opening concert of the Festival of Sacred Music in Dijon, France.
About Daniel Knox
Springfield, Illinois native Daniel Knox escaped to the big city in 1999 to attend film school. Intent on composing his own scores, he began sneaking into the Hilton Tower’s Grand Ballroom to teach himself to play the piano. Years later, he has amassed a dark and diverse repertoire, addictive as much for its narrative and lyrical deftness as for its musical lure.
In January of 2007, Knox accompanied filmmaker David Lynch on organ for the Chicago premiere of Inland Empire at the historic Music Box Theater (where he also works as a projectionist). This led to his participation in David Coulter’s (Damon Albarn, Tom Waits, Nick Cave) production of Plague Songs at the Barbican in London at where he shared the stage with the likes of Damon Albarn, Rufus Wainwright, Sandy Dillon, Imogen Heap and Phil Minton. Knox is undertaking his first U.S. tour for this summer and continues to add to his body of recordings, which now includes the full-length and first of a trilogy H.P. Johnson Presents: Disaster, the EP A Poison Tree, and a collection of instrumentals entitled Window Music.
Benefit Committee
Regina Abramovich, Rita Ackerman, Jackie Astier, Cece Barfield, Claire Bernard, Georgina Bloomberg, Kathryn Bohannon, Brodi & Gregory Borchardt, Felicitas & Chris Brant, Marissa Bregman, Bevin Butler, Bryna Butler, Davina Catt, Olivia Chantecaille, Melanie Charlton Fascitelli, Annie Churchill, Everett Cook, Kipton Cronkite, Peter Davis, Sue de Beer, Moises de la Renta, Holly Doran, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Rob Fischer, Kelly Florio, Ian A. Gerard, William Gilbane III, Eugenia Gonzales, Lauren Hochfelder Silverman, Cena & Matt Jackson, Terrence Koh, Alixe Laughlin, Natalie Leeds Leventhal, Elizabeth Loomis, Nate Lowman, Jennifer McSweeney, Serena Nikkhah, Annelise Peterson, Amanda Richman, Laird Roach, Marina Rosenfeld, Melissa Skoog, Agathe Snow, Alexandra Stanton & Sam Natapoff, Vincent Szarek, Luigi Tadini, Mika Tajima, Atrhut Wayne, Chessy Wilson, Arden Wohl
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