The Liaisons Project is Friday & Saturday, October 10 & 11.

The Liaisons Project is Friday & Saturday, October 10 & 11. Sorry for any inconvenience! 

The Liaisons Project is a landmark commissioning and concert project, conceived by concert pianist Anthony de Mare, that has invited 36 of the world's foremost contemporary composers to "re-imagine" a song by legendary musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim.

The result is a brand new world-class piano repertory (LIAISONS: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano) that reveals Sondheim’s influence across multiple genres and generations. Composers hail from seven countries, range in age from 32 to 76, and span the worlds of classical, pop, jazz, opera, musical theater and film. 

Since 2011 Mr. de Mare has been touring iterations of LIAISONS across the country, to widespread critical and popular acclaim. The first 32 pieces received their NYC premieres over the span of two sold-out concerts at Symphony Space. in April 2012 and March 2013, receiving rave reviews from Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times and others. Mr. Sondheim also gave a live interview at each concert. See WATCH/LISTEN for performance and interview excerpts.

At its essence, LIAISONS is an homage. But unlike any other Sondheim tribute to date, its focus is exclusively on the music. The Project leaves no doubt that, aside from his genius as a lyricist, Stephen Sondheim is one of the century's greatest and most influential composers.

Over the past two years, LIAISONS programs have played to sold-out crowds at concert halls and universities in major cities from Chicago and San Francisco to Portland, Kansas City, Fort Saskatchwan and Fort Worth. Performed exclusively by de Mare through 2016, individual pieces can be combined to form an infinite variety of concert, recital and residency programs. LIAISONS will ultimately be released as a 3-CD recording, currently in process, as well as a published collection.

For those new to Sondheim’s work, LIAISONS offers a delightful introduction to it; for those already familiar, the context of a concert hall inspires whole new insights and appreciations.

Tickets: $15 Burchfield Penney members and students / $25 "not yet" members. Call 716-878-6011 for tickets and information.