the health and safety of our audiences, artists, staff, and administrators is our highest priority.
masks must be worn at all times inside the venue.
proof of full vaccination with photo ID is required for entry.
NYC premiere screening
Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance and Modern Oblivion
followed by a Q&A
with Director Jessica Gould and actor Ezra Knight
Thursday, october 20
6:30pm
NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò
24 West 12th street
tickets are free but reservations are required
please click here to reserve
After taking the international film festival circuit by storm with over 90 awards and counting to its name, Jessica Gould’s Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance and Modern Oblivion makes its long awaited New York screen debut in the place where it all began. Coursing through four centuries of music history, Babylon considers the resonance of Psalm 137 (By the Waters of Babylon) through the music of two of history’s most marginalized peoples – Italian Jews of Mantua during the period of the Counter-Reformation, and African Americans before, during, and after the Harlem Renaissance.
The titanic-voiced Ezra Knight (The Tender Bar, Billions, Law and Order) narrates a journey through music, interweaving works from the ancient Kora virtuosi of Western Africa to the Italian-Jewish composer Salomone Rossi (1570 – 1630), to the young African-American composer Brandon Waddles (1988 –). Starring the groundbreaking Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, the award winning soundtrack includes historical recordings by Ma Rainey, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, as well as two luminaries in contemporary West African music – Kevin Nathaniel Hylton and Yacouba Sissoko.
Additional Rossi works include performances by the Bacchus Consort, Voices of Music, and Ms. Gould in collaboration with lutenist Lucas Harris.
Since its December 2020 première, Babylon has garnered over 90 laurels from film festivals across the globe, including the prestigious Violetta d’Oro prize of the Parma International Music Film Festival (the top prize of the festival) and Best International Film from the Asti International Film Festival. Other first place trophies for the short film hail from Cannes, Tokyo, Mykonos, Milan, Rome, London, Toronto, Belgrade, Naples, among many other cities.
Babylon is an original project of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts and made possible by the generous support of NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò.
Previous Events 2022
A Benefit for Ukraine
Thursday, July 28th 7:00pm
Marc A. Scorca Recital Hall
The National Opera Center
330 7th Avenue, 7th floor (b/w 28th and 29th street)
Online sales for this event have ended.
A very limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
Click here to see the concert program.
Jessica Gould, soprano; Galina Ivvanikova, mezzo-soprano; Vira Slywotzky, contralto
Lucas Levy, tenor; Steven Andrew Murray, tenor; Richard Hobson, baritone
Gianni Fabbrini, piano & music direction
Salon/Sanctuary Concerts lifts our voice to help Razom for Ukraine provide urgently needed humanitarian relief where it is desperately needed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia.
Accompanied by maestro Gianni Fabbrini of the Semper Oper Dresden, Opéra National de Paris, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro, the Festivals of Glyndebourne and Wexford, Maggio Musciale, etc., an ensemble of singers, both American and Ukrainian, share treasured repertoire from opera, oratorio, and recital.
Arias, and duets by Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Ravel, and Bernstein along with traditional spirituals and Ukrainian songs reflect on war, peace, government good and bad, the gift of loyalty and the joy of allyship, the sacrifices of leadership, and the miracle of endurance in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Please join us in raising critically needed support for our allies in Ukraine.
Tuesday, March 22nd 7:00pm
SOLD OUT
Thursday, March 24th 7:00pm
ONLINE SALES HAVE ENDED.
TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR
The Recital Hall of St. Michael's Church, 225 West 99th St.
Hopkinson Smith, Lute
Bright and Early
Italian and French Lute Music from the Dawn of the 16th Century
The American-born virtuoso performs works of Francesco Spinacino (1507) and Zoan Ambrosio Dalza (1508), alternating with music from the first French lute tablatures printed in 1529 and 1530 by Pierre Attaingnant
BABYLON becomes the most decorated early music film in history
Surpassing Tous les Matins du Monde, Babylon garners over 90 awards and counting
from film festivals across the globe.
To view the film and see more information, including cast, credits, program notes, and more, click here.
Our award winning début film project, Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance, and Modern Oblivion, considers the text of Psalm 137 as it has resonated through the music of two ghettoized peoples – Italian Jews of Mantua during the period of the Counter-Reformation, and African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.
Narrated by the titanic voiced Ezra Knight, the groundbreaking Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble performs works by Italian-Jewish composer Salamone Rossi (1570 – 1630) and contemporary American Brandon Waddles (1988 –) . Other musical selections include archival recordings by such luminaries as Ma Rainey, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, and others, two giants of contemporary West African music, Kevin Nathaniel Hylton and Yacouba Sissoko, and soprano Jessica Gould and lutenist Lucas Harris.
Babylon is presented by Salon/Sanctuary Concerts and made possible by the generous support of NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò.
Salon/Sanctuary Concerts | 511 Avenue of the Americas #H45 NY, NY 10011
(646) 470-1837
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