FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Miller Wright / Dan Fortune at (212) 977-7800
FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY
PRESENTS
TWO TIME GRAMMY WINNING SINGER
SYLVIA McNAIR
"IT'S GOOD TO HAVE YOU NEAR AGAIN"
MARCH 18-22
FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed "Best of New York" by New York Magazine and "an invaluable New York institution" by The New York Post, continues its Spring 2008 season with the two time Grammy Award winning singer SYLVIA McNAIR from March 18-22. Her new show "It's Good To Have You Near Again" features songs by Stephen Sondheim ("Everybody Says Don't"), Harold Arlen ("A Woman's Prerogative"), Cole Porter ("In The Still Of The Night"), Hoagy Carmichael ("The Nearness Of You"), Leonard Bernstein (a West Side Story medley) and Andre Previn (the program's rarely heard title song). Ms. McNair will also display her talent for bluegrass violin on "Orange Blossom Special" and the Charlie Daniels classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." She will be joined by Musical Director Ted Taylor on piano and David Finck on bass. All performances will be at the Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street).
SYLVIA McNAIR, during a 25-year career as one of the world's leading singers, has brilliantly mastered the classical, cabaret, opera, and Broadway musical repertoire, and made over 70 recordings. She earned two Grammy Awards and worldwide acclaim en route.
However, she values her most recent success above all others: surviving a tough bout with breast cancer in 2006 that included five major surgeries and months of chemotherapy and radiation. Through it all, she performed around the country and joined the faculty of the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Having worked at the highest echelons of opera and classical music and dazzled the critics for 20 years with her fresh lyric soprano ("The voice of a nightingale" proclaimed Le Figaro), Sylvia permanently crossed over in 2005, performing cabaret, jazz and musical theater, which she once described as "my true musical love." She continued to dazzle the critics. Barrymore Lawrence Scherer wrote in the Wall Street Journal (March 2007): "In recent years, such first-rank classical artists as Renee Fleming and Sylvia McNair have proved adept at jazz vocals. The idiom is in their blood"; while Rex Reed of the New York Observer said of her nightclub debut: "Her phrasing is exemplary. Her modulations are inspired. Her timing is exemplary. I could get used to this kind of ecstasy."
Classically trained, Sylvia McNair holds a degree in vocal performance from Indiana University, where she minored in jazz and studied with world-renowned soprano Eileen Farrell, who also sang pop, jazz and blues throughout her career. Once launched on her operatic career, McNair performed in the most prestigious international music festivals, opera houses and symphonic halls in the world such as the Met, Chicago Lyric Opera, Salzburg Festival and San Francisco Opera.
She performed in operas by Handel, Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, Stravinsky and Britten, as well as recitals with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and others - to rave reviews - under the batons of Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Neville Marriner, Andre Previn and the late Robert Shaw, the musician she credits for giving her the important opportunities that started her career.
Other career highlights include singing for Pope John Paul II, Hillary Rodham Clinton and for the United States Supreme Court by special invitation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. A native of Mansfield, Ohio, Sylvia McNair earned a Masters degree with Distinction from the Indiana University School of Music, and received honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Indiana University and the Ohio Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Entertainment.
FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY will play the following schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 8:30 PM. The new weekend schedule will present shows on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. All shows have a $40.00 cover with new $60.00 premium seats. The 8:00 PM and 8:30 PM shows have a $40.00 food and beverage minimum and the 10:00 PM shows have a $25.00 food and beverage minimum. Jackets are suggested but not required. FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY is located at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street in New York City. For ticket reservations and club information, please call (212) 339-4095 or visit us online at feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.
