(Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. ...

and multimedia art

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the

Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...

at 158

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which ...

. The performance space was designed and engineered by

John Storyk John Storyk (born May 10, 1946) is a registered architect and acoustician who, together with wife and business partner Beth Walters, co-founded Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG). Beginning in 1968 with Electric Lady Studios for Jimi Hendrix in ...

/WSDG. It has become known for its focus on artistry, bringing

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), modern forms of Post-tonal music theory, post-tonal music after th ...

into the club setting, and offering a variety of set ups so that a seated classical performance can be followed by a standing set by a rock band or a DJ. Responding to a performance of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

's ''

Quartet for the End of Time ''Quatuor pour la fin du temps'' (), originally ''Quatuor de la fin du temps'' ("''Quartet of the End of Time''"), also known by its English title ''Quartet for the End of Time'', is an eight-movement piece of chamber music by the French composer ...

'' featuring pianist

Bruce Brubaker Bruce Brubaker is a musician, artist, concert pianist, and writer from the United States. Concepts Brubaker's work uses and combines Western classical music with postmodern artistic, literary, theatrical, and philosophical ideas. He is associate ...

at LPR, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported: "The crowd – many of whom wouldn't even have known who Messiaen was – sat in rapt silence, and roared their approval at the end." Kantor and Handler, both graduates of

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in m ...

, founded LPR with the stated desire of creating a venue that would foster the fusion of "popular and art cultures" in music, film, theater, dance, and

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

. The venue is home to a myriad variety of genres focusing on classical, new music,

avant garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, but also playing host to readings, comedy, film, DJs, parties, theater, and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. A number of live albums have been recorded at (Le) Poisson Rouge, including an improvised album by J. Spaceman and Kid Millions and

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

's New Music Ensemble recording of

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

's ''

In C ''In C'' is a musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for an indefinite number of performers. He suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work". A series of short melodic fragments, ''In C'' is ...

''.

Awards

* 2013

Guest of a Guest Guest of a Guest is a website founded by Cameron Winklevoss and Rachelle Hruska that covers high society events, people, and places. Since its inception, Guest of a Guest has grown to include a picture database of thousands of people and events al ...

's Best NYC Venues to Discover New Musicians * 2012 & 2013 ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' magazine's Great Jazz Rooms of the World * 2012 Foursquare: New York's Best Music Venues 2012 * 2012 iRockaes Top 50 Live Streaming Sources * 2011

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

's Victor Herbert Award for excellence in programming * 2011

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embark ...

Best of NYC * 2011 Village Award from Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation * 2011 New York Jazz Record Venue of the Year * 2010 ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...

'' magazine Best Party in NYC (The Freedom Party) * 2010 Club Planet Venue of the Week * 2009 ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine's Best High Brow Venue * 2009 ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''s Best Rock Venue * Listed in Flavorpill's Best Venues of the 21st Century * Multiple nominations for ''Paper'' magazine's best club in New York City

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poisson Rouge, (Le) Nightclubs in Manhattan Music venues in Manhattan Drinking establishments in Greenwich Village Event venues established in 2008 2008 establishments in New York City