Bidding adieu to 2011 with sparkle, splendour and swing, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents Le Casse-noix Moderne – The Modern Nutcracker on Thursday, December 29 at 7:00pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. This delectable holiday treat from Alabama’s Etowah Youth Orchestras and Downtown Dance Conservatory will be seen in its New York City debut for one night only. Composer and arranger Mike Gagliardo and choreographer Linze Rickles McRae’s Casse-noix Moderne is a version of the famous holiday classic like no other — a retrospective of modern music and dance, encompassing every form of popular music from the 1920’s to the present. Featuring selected music from Tchaikovsky’s original, each selection becomes a different style: “Trepak” is a swinging big band number, while the “Sugar Plum Fairy” becomes a soulful ballad; “Mirlitons” turns into a western swing number, while the Overture is straight-ahead rock and roll.  Le Casse-noix Moderne enthrals with its original, modern interpretations, maintaining all of the magic and familiarity of the timeless holiday classic.

Tickets at www.dciny.org or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/207839

Baritone Thomas Florio, First Place winner of the 2010 National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition, makes his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall on Sunday, October 30 at 2:00pm, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York. A superbly versatile performer, the rapidly rising baritone, who turns 27 this month, is a District Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and currently an artist in residence with Hamburg State Opera Studio, where he has performed roles in Rigoletto, Tosca, and La fille du régiment. Florio and pianist Jasmin Arakawa’s program will include music by Gerald Finzi, Jacques Ibert, Benjamin Britten, Enríc Granados and Hans Pfitzner, plus Five Commercial Jingles, Florio’s own conceptual take on classic jingles from the 50s, 60s and 70s including “Aqua Velva Man” and Gerber’s “Bringing Up Baby.” Tickets and information at www.carnegiehall.org and www.dciny.com.

Jessye Norman, celebrated opera singer, activist and American icon, joins Distinguished Concerts International New York on the afternoon of September 11^th for A Concert of Commemoration, Honoring the 10^th Anniversary of 9/11. Over 600 musicians will fill the stage for the concert featuring iconic music of war and peace, including over 300 members of England’s renowned Really Big Chorus. Miss Norman will speak the role of the Narrator in Karl Jenkins’s For the Fallen, in its U.S. premiere, and will also read Mayor Bloomberg’s proclamation to open the concert. The concert takes place at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center at 2pm. Tickets and information at www.lincolncenter.org and www.dciny.com.

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) will present a unique and poignant memorial concert on September 11, 2011 at 2:00pm at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. Karl Jenkins will conduct his powerful work The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and the U.S. premiere of his recent work For The Fallen, in addition to Memorial by René Clausen, which was composed specifically for the victims of 9/11. DCINY and their partners, including EMI Classics and Boosey & Hawkes, have invited choruses around the world to take part in a Global Sing For Peace, creating a mosaic of voices unified in their call for peace on the anniversary of one of history’s darkest hours. Choirs from across America and from as far away as Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Italy, France and the UK will participate. For more information see http://www.globalsingforpeace.org.