(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.) – Todd Palmer, clarinetist and three-time Grammy nominee, joins forces with Israeli pianist Ran Dank and soprano Elizabeth Futral to perform Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice, a song cycle in two acts which was originally commissioned by Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series in 2005, at Tannery Pond Concerts in the Tannery on the grounds of the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y., on Saturday, September 1, at 8 p.m. Futral and Palmer created their roles – Euridice and Orpheus, respectively – for the Lincoln Center premiere, which garnered an OBIE award. Dank will also perform Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A minor in the first half of the concert.

Todd Palmer made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall as a winner of the 1987 Artists International Competition, and in 1988, he won the Grand Prize in the Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition in Houston. A winner of the 1990 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Palmer was enthusiastically received in recitals in the 1991 Young Concert Artists Series in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In1993, Palmer gave a dynamic performance of the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the New York Chamber Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz as recipient of the Aaron and Irene Diamond Soloist Prize. His latest CD, Yiddishbbuk, released in 2002 by EMI Classics, was a top-ten classical disc of the year. Palmer appears often as soloist with orchestras, including Houston Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, National Chamber Orchestra in Washington, and many others. Todd Palmer has been heard in 48 of the 50 States. A superb chamber player, Palmer has played with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. He has also performed at numerous festivals all over the world.

Elizabeth Futral has established herself as one of the major coloratura sopranos in the world today. She has embraced a diverse repertoire that includes Vivaldi, Händel, Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Glass, and Previn. In the fall of 2005, Futral performed Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice as part of Great Performers at Lincoln Center. That season also included Adina in L’elisir d’amore for Washington National Opera and Violetta in La Traviata for Los Angeles Opera.

In the past season of New York concerts alone, pianist Ran Dank has performed Beethoven sonatas at Merkin Hall, Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 in his debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, and gained critical acclaim for his “vivacious playing” (The New York Times) of the Tobias Picker Concerto at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and for his performance of Ravel’s piano trio at the Chelsea Music Festival for “the sweep and fire of his playing” (The New York Times).

Highlights of this season include his recital debut at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, as well appearances at Portland Ovations, Merrick-Bellmore Community Concert Association, Missouri State University, Tannery Pond Concerts, and University at Buffalo, and in the inaugural season of YCA’s ensemble, miXt, with performances at New York’s Merkin Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, as well as at the Paramount Theater, Palladium Theatre, Jewish Community Alliance, the University of Florida, and the University of Georgia.

Dank has appeared as soloist with the Phoenix, Ann Arbor, Hilton Head, and Pensacola symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra as a laureate of the Cleveland International Competition, as well as the Orquesta de Valencia in Spain, among others; he has been presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society’s prestigious Hayes Piano Series at the Kennedy Center, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Finland’s Mänttä Festival where his all-Liszt recital was broadcast on Finnish National Radio; and performed as a chamber musician at YCA’s Tokyo Festival and the Seattle and Montreal chamber music festivals.

Recipient of the Sander Buchman Memorial First Prize of the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Dank made his New York debut in the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Concert. At the Auditions, he was also honored with the John Browning Memorial Prize, the Slomovic Orchestra Soloist Prize, the Albany Symphony Prize, the Embassy Series Prize for a concert in Washington DC, and the Saint Vincent College Bronder Prize for Piano.

In his native Israel, Dank has been invited as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Jerusalem, Rishon Lezion, Haifa and Raanana, as well as the Israel Festival in Jerusalem, and most recently, at the Israel Conservatory of Music in a recital celebrating Debussy’s 150th anniversary.

In addition to First Prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Mr. Dank is a laureate of the Naumburg Piano Competition and the Sydney International Piano Competition. Dank is the recipient of grants from the Arthur Foundation and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Dank earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, where he studied with Emanuel Krasovsky, and received his Master’s degree from the Juilliard School where he worked with Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein and Juilliard’s Artist Diploma, under Robert McDonald. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts with Ursula Oppens and Richard Goode at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as a chancellor’s fellow.