A bit late notice, but for those of you in the New York City area, he’s celebrating his 80th at Symphony Space tonight, in the form of a benefit for Clearwater (founded by Pete Seeger) and The Woody Guthrie Foundation, titled: David Amram, The First 80 Years. Some things you can expect, above and beyond Mr. Amram’s ebullient good nature & music:
- the New York premiere of Amram’s Symphonic Variations on A Song By Woody Guthrie
- the first ever concert performance of excerpts from Amram’s classic film scores Splendor In The Grass & The Manchurian Candidate
- a screening of the finale of the recent production of 12th Night — his 1968 opera, with a libretto by Joe Papp
- filmed birthday greetings from Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson and members of the New York Philharmonic
- live appearances by Keir Dullea, John Ventimiglia, Malachy McCourt and members of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting
- the Queen’s College Orchestra, conducted by Maurice Peress and David Amram
- the Brooklyn Conservatory Jazz Ensemble, directed by Earl McIntyre and the Jazz & Gospel Choirs, directed by Renee Manning
- Candido, Bobby Sanabria, David Broza, John McEuen (of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Josh White Jr., Larry Kerwin & The Imani Winds
- the first public screening of highlights from Lawrence Kraman’s feature documentary, David Amram, The First 80 Years
The curtain rises at 7:30 pm on Nov. 11 at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th St., 212-864-5400. For more details on the concert, click here. For more about David Amram, here.