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Press Release

October 22, 2023

For Immediate Release

October 25 at 7 pm

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents

Empire Wild

Genre-bending trio performs its own arrangements of music from Bach, Schubert and Debussy to Swedish folk, Chick Corea and more

Empire Wild is a genre-bending crossover trio featuring Juilliard-trained classical musicians embodying a shared love of musical exploration. On Wednesday, October 25 at 7 pm Baruch Performing Arts Center presents the trio at Engelman Recital Hall. Tickets are $40 ($25 with Baruch ID). available here. The concert is part of the Freda and Aaron Silberman Recital Series.

The eclectic program at Baruch PAC features the group's unique sound and instrumentation (two cellos, piano and vocals) blending its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon. Music by Schubert, Debussy and Bach are side by side with Swedish folk music, Chick Corea and original compositions, all arranged by the members of Empire Wild (cellists Ken Kubota and Mitch Lyon and pianist Jiyong Kim). Program details are below.

Empire Wild's performance at BPAC is part of a two day residency by Empire Wild in which they will lead classes and workshops with students in the Baruch department of Fine and Performing Arts. The group has just completed a 20-performance US tour. In 2020 Empire Wild was awarded an Ambassador Prize in the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. The group’s debut EP Paper Seasons highlights the trio’s unique sound and instrumentation in original compositions. Hi-res photos are at this link.

Baruch Performing Arts Center is at 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues, on the south side of the street) in the heart of Manhattan. Praised for its superb acoustics, the Rosalyn and Irwin Engelman Recital Hall has been called "a perfect hall for chamber music" by Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times. 

Photo/video from top: Empire Wild (Mitch Lyon, Jiyong Kim, Ken Kubota) credit Concert Artists Guild; Empire Wild video with former EW member Holly Bean

October 25, 2023 at 7 pm

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents:

Empire Wild

Ken Kubota & Mitch Lyon, cellos; Jiyong Kim, piano

Engelman Recital Hall at Baruch Performing Arts Center

55 Lexington Ave., New York, NY

(enter on 25th St. between 3rd and Lexington Aves)

Tickets are $40 ($25 with Baruch ID) available at bpac.baruch.cuny.edu



This concert is part of the Freda and Aaron Silberman Recital Series.

Program

Taro Hakase: Jounetsu Tairiku

Franz Schubert: Impromptu No 3

Brandon Ilaw/Ethan Lewis: For Chiaki - North Beat

J.S. Bach: Courante in G Major

George Gershwin: ‘S Wonderful

Ji-Yong Kim: Piano Solo

Eugene Friesen: Shadowplay

Väsen: Bambodansarna

Chick Corea: Armando’s Rhumba

Empire Wild: Song for Claire

Jacob Collier: In Too Deep

Mark Summer: Julie-O (cello duo)

Claude Debussy: Children’s Corner I. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum

Jeremy Kittel: The Boxing Reels

Program is subject to change