FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW MUSIC SEMINAR 2012 KICKS OFF WITH EXCLUSIVE RED CARPET OPENING NIGHT PARTY AT WEBSTER HALL ON JUNE 17
FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY HOODIE ALLEN, THE PIERCES, DIANE BIRCH, ANDY ROURKE (DJ) , EVAN SHINNERS, ALEK SANDAR AND YOZMIT, THE FIERY SENSATIONS AND SPECIAL GUESTS
New York, NY (May 31, 2012) — New Music Seminar (NMS) announces the invitation-only, red carpet Opening Night Party at Webster Hall on Sunday, June 17, 2012 to kick off New Music Seminar (June 17-19) and the first ever NMS NY Music Festival (June 17-20.)
NMS’ exclusive Opening Night Party is the not-to-be missed party of the year. The night, full of surprises, will kick off with the NMS Opening Night Cocktail Reception from 7:00-8:00pm featuring a DJ set by Andy Rourke, former bass player for The Smiths. The night will feature all-star performances by Hoodie Allen, The Pierces, Diane Birch, Evan Shinners, Alek Sandar and Yozmit and The Fiery Sensations. The evening will also feature a very special surprise performance, the Cabo Wabo VIP Lounge and will be MCed by New York’s own Q104.3’s Jonathan Clarke, host of the popular “Out of the Box” radio show.
Registration for the New Music Seminar will open at 2:00 PM on Sunday, June 17. **You must be registered to attend the NMS Conference for entrance to the NMS Opening Night Party and NMS NY Music Festival. Registration fee is $399, or $249 for students, until June 14. After that date registration prices go up to $499 and can also be purchased as walk-up at Webster Hall. To register in advance for NMS, and NMS NY Music Festival visit: https://www.newmusicseminar.com
Indie hip-hop artist Hoodie Allen’s recent EP, All American, is the first album to go #1 at iTunes on its release date without support from a major or independent label or traditional radio. The EP went to #10 on the US Billboard 200 chart and the single “No Interruption” garnered 1 million views in its first 10 days on YouTube.
The Pierces, Catherine and Allison Pierce, are sisters, songwriters and singers whose songs have been featured on Gossip Girl, Dexter and Pretty Little Liars. The alt-folk duo, hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, have four Top 10 singles in the UK and are touring Australia with Coldplay later this year. They will also be performing on The Late Show with David Letterman. Coldplay’s bassist, Guy Berryman and Grammy Award winning producer, Rik Simpson produced The Pierces newest album, You & I, which was release on Polydor Records.
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Diane Birch, is currently in studio working on her sophomore release (as yet untitled), with Dap Kings-drummer-turned-producer, Homer Steinweiss, Roots’ drummer ?uestlove, Eg White (of Adele fame) and long-time collaborator/S-Curve label President, Steve Greenberg. Birch will perform tracks from the album for the first time, along with tracks from her debut release, Bible Belt, at New Music Seminar’s Opening Night Party. With hook-driven songs, Birch mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going soul, and can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune.
Andy Rourke, the former bass player for The Smiths- one of the most significant alt-rock bands that materialized from the British independent music scene in the 1980s- will DJ a special set to start off and end the NMS Opening Night Party. Rourke has also played and recorded with many other artists over the years including Morrissey, Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, and Aziz Ibrahim. Rourke DJs worldwide and has his own show, Jetlag, on the New York-based East Village Radio, which airs every Monday.
Evan Shinners, a Julliard graduate, who is unconcerned with preconceptions of how classical music should be played, has become known as the voice of Bach for today’s generation, playing classical music over hip-hop beats. The wildly talented pianist released @bach, a compilation of two live, unedited performances recorded at Juilliard and Rockefeller University, on Cull Records. The New York Times has said, “Evan Shinners attacked the score with a bravura that might have pleased Liszt.”
Two internationally acclaimed faces of the New York avant-garde scene – Alek Sandar and Yozmit – team up to present a phenomenal audio-visual spectacle, parts of which have been performed in Miami (Art Basel), Los Angeles, New York, Seoul, Sofia, Berlin and London. Yozmit stands out with one-of-a-kind costumes and shocking performances merging traditional patterns of our historic past with futuristic elements, while Alek Sandar combines ancient Buddhist chanting with post-modern Dubstep and House twists on the musical level.
The Fiery Sensations, a troop of performers who express themselves through the fusion of light, drums, movement, fire, and snakes, will heat up the red carpet and stage with a sizzling, jaw-dropping, Cirque le Feu show, embodying many forms of fire performance.
That afternoon, prior to the Opening Night Party, the Songwriters Hall of Fame will be presenting the Songwriters-In-The-Round event, with SHOF inductee and legendary songwriter Desmond Child as Conductor and songwriters Eric Bazilian, Claude Kelly and Jodi Marr as Players (speakers.) SHOF will also be presenting the Abe Olman Scholarships for Excellence in Songwriting, The Holly Prize and NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar Award. NMS will present “Producing Music For a Connected Society Movement” featuring Benny Blanco, Just Blaze, Luke Ebbin, David Kahne, Rico Love and Don Was.
For the full line-up and schedule go to www.newmusicseminar.com
Webster Hall is located at 125 East 11th St. Red carpet starts at 7:00pm
Confirmed 2012 NMS Sponsors
Title Partners: SoundExchange, BMI and iHeartRadio.
Diamond Partners: Pandora, AriZona Beverage Company and Jakprints.
Platinum Partners: HugeFan, OurStage, Spotify, eMusic, The Artist Brand, SESAC, ReverbNation, Section 101, TuneIn and MailChimp.
Gold Partners: Atlantic Records, Columbia Records, EMI Records, Epic Records, Island Def Jam Records, Sony RCA Records, Universal Republic Records, Cell Fish/Bands In Town, Kollector, Official FM and Simfy.
Silver Partners: Gibson, Bandzoogle, Top Spin Media, HD Tracks, I Love Music Gear, Jambase, CD Baby/Diskmakers
Media and Industry Partners: Billboard, The Aquarian Weekly, Filter Magazine, NARAS, Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Aderra, A2iM, NARM, Hypebot, Mozes, Music Connection, Folk Alliance, Musician Coaching, Music Registry, Yamaha, Sabian, Next Big Sound, Musicmetric, All About Jazz and Sag Aftra.
About the New Music Seminar: June 17-19, 2012, New York City:
From the co-founder and director of the original legendary New Music Seminar comes a conference for the Next Music Business. Rapidly changing music creation, exposure and monetization opportunities coupled with music fans changing music consumption habits are transforming the old “record business” into an entirely new industry. The New Music Seminar, with over 150 confirmed Players, is the meeting place of music visionaries, upstarts, and disruptors and where the old rules are broken and new ideas will hatch into a vital new music business. For more information on this year’s event and the speakers attending go to www.NewMusicSeminar.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
WE + PR
Workman Entertainment & Public Relations; (o) 212-256-0592
Pamela Lipshitz, VP Publicity
pamelal@workmanentertainment.com (c) 917-859-6852
For press passes, contact Hollis at
hollis@workmanentertainment.com
For sponsorship and branding opportunities, contact Dave Lory at dave@newmusicseminar.com