The Berkshire Eagle
Taylor leads Carnegie Hall all-stars
Updated: 04/06/2011 06:42:00 AM EDT
Wednesday April 6, 2011
James Taylor heads the all-star cast at next Tuesday’s Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Celebration, the opening event honoring the cultural icon.
Sharing the stage will be Sting, Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Barbara Cook, Dianne Reeves and members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, including Caroline “Kim” Taylor. The gala is a benefit for educational activities at the hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan.
“On April 12, we want to celebrate Carnegie Hall as an institution and as a cultural touchstone,” said Taylor in an email message to The Eagle. “I’m very grateful to the members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for agreeing to join me for this celebration. We are bringing together so many wonderful guest artists to support this great cultural institution.”
Taylor also will appear in a series of three more performances April 20, May 6 and May 9: “I was hugely flattered to be asked to host a ”˜Perspectives’ series. We have been working up to this for the last two years. Carnegie Hall offered and we jumped right in.”
He recalled first performing there in June 1970 — “from the moment I walked in the door, it lived up to my expectations and to my imagination.
“Carnegie Hall is the sort of venue that focuses a performer’s attention,” Taylor continued. “Everyone who plays here wants to be at his very best. The world recognizes this as one of the great venues for classical music, but it is important to remember that folk music got played here, too. Blues, swing, R&B, and jazz were performed here. Rock ”˜n’ roll got played here. Gershwin, Sinatra, and The Beatles have all stood on this stage.”
Ticket information for the April 12 gala and the Perspectives series is available at www.carnegiehall.org or at CarnegieCharge, (212) 247-7800.
