LIAISONS: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano


“To hear composers take my work and take it seriously… it’s a thrill.”
- Stephen Sondheim

Conceived by concert pianist Anthony de Mare, LIAISONS is a landmark commissioning and concert project based on the songs of legendary musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim. The project has brought together 36 of the world’s foremost contemporary composers from across the musical spectrum, inviting them to “re-imagine” one of Sondheim’s songs as a solo piano piece.

The result is a brand new world-class piano repertory that reveals Sondheim’s influence across multiple genres, generations and continents, making the case for him as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers. Performed exclusively by de Mare through 2016, individual pieces can be combined to form an infinite variety of concert, recital and residency programs.

LIAISONS has played to critical and popular acclaim in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, including world premieres of the first 32 pieces in two sold-out concerts at Symphony Space in 2012 and 2013. The entire collection is now available on ECM Records (September 2015), and in the fall of 2015 de Mare will perform all 36 pieces across a series of concerts at Birdland Jazz Club (September), the Sheen Center (October) and Symphony Space (November).

Real-time updates about concerts and pre-orders can be found on the Liaisons Project Facebook page
Andy Akiho
Into the Woods
from Into the Woods
Mason Bates
Very Put Together
based on 'Putting it Together' from Sunday in the Park with George
Eve Beglarian
Perpetual Happiness
based on 'Happiness' from Passion
Derek Bermel
Sorry/Grateful
from Company
Jherek Bischoff
The Ballad Of Guiteau
from Assassins
William Bolcom
A Little Night Fughetta
based on 'Anyone Can Whistle' & 'Send in the Clowns'
Jason Robert Brown
Birds Of Victorian England
based on 'Green Finch and Linnet Bird' from Sweeney Todd
Kenji Bunch
The Demon Barber
A Fantasia on 'The Ballad of Sweeney Todd' from Sweeney Todd
Mary Ellen Childs
Now
based on "Now-Later-Soon' from A Little Night Music
Michael Daugherty
Everybody's Got The Right
from Assassins
Anthony de Mare
Sunday In The Park ~ Passages (Encore)
from Sunday in the Park with George
Peter Golub
A Child Of Children And Art
based on 'Children and Art' from Sunday in the Park with George
Ricky Ian Gordon
Every Day A Little Death
from A Little Night Music
Annie Gosfield
A Bowler Hat
from Pacific Overtures
Jake Heggie
I'm Excited. No You're Not.
based on 'A Weekend in the Country' from A Little Night Music
Fred Hersch
No One Is Alone
from Into the Woods
Ethan Iverson
Send In The Clowns
from A Little Night Music
Gabriel Kahane
Being Alive
from Company
Phil Kline
Paraphrase (Someone In A Tree)
from Pacific Overtures
Tania Leon
Going... Gone
based on 'Good Thing Going' from Merrily We Roll Along
Ricardo Lorenz
The Worst [Empanadas] In London
based on "The Worst Pies in London' & "A Little Priest' from Sweeney Todd
Wynton Marsalis
That Old Piano Roll
from Follies
Paul Moravec
I Think About You
based on 'Losing My Mind' from Follies
Nico Muhly
Color and Light
from Sunday in the Park with George
John Musto
Epiphany
from Sweeney Todd
Thomas Newman
Not While I'm Around
from Sweeney Todd
David Rakowski
The Ladies Who Lunch
from Company
Steve Reich
Finishing The Hat - 2 Pianos
from Sunday in the Park with George
Eric Rockwell
You Could Drive A Person Crazy
from Company
Daniel Bernard Roumain
Another Hundred People
from Company
Frederic Rzewski
I'm Still Here
from Follies
Rodney Sharman
Notes On 'Beautiful'
based on 'Beautiful' from Sunday in the Park with George
Duncan Sheik
Johanna In Space
based on 'Johanna' from Sweeney Todd
David Shire
Love Is In The Air
from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Bernadette Speach
In and Out of Love
based on 'Liaisons' and 'Send in the Clowns' from A Little Night Music
Mark Anthony Turnage
Pretty Women
fro m Sweeney Todd
Nils Vigeland
Merrily We Roll Along
from Merrily We Roll Along
Click here to view Video Excerpts
Learn more at www.liaisonsproject.com
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Producer - Rachel Colbert
rcolbert@theliaisonsproject.com

Press Contact - Brian Drutman
drutman.brian@gmail.com
917-334-4103