Coffee House Club : Duet for one, a night of music & literature
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Admission
RSVP required
Dinner paid separately (reserve in advance online)
About the Event
Join novelist & critic Martha Anne Toll, author Jai Chakrabarti, pianists Amy Duran & Barbara Ciannella for a night of music & literature to launch Toll’s new novel, Duet for One.
About the Presenters
Martha Anne Toll, Novelist and critic
Martha Anne Toll is a novelist and literary and cultural critic. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction and was shortlisted for the Gotham Book Prize. Her next novel, Duet for One, comes out in May 2025. Toll is a recipient of numerous artists’ Fellowships and serves on the Board of Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. A graduate of Yale, Toll holds a B.A. Degree in Music, and her classical music training informs her artistic practice. She holds a J.D. Degree from Boston University School of Law, and comes to writing professionally after a career dedicated to social justice. Toll grew up in Philadelphia, and now lives with her climate activist husband in Washington, D.C. They are the lucky parents of two adult daughters.
Jai Chakrabarti, Author
Two-time O. Henry Prize winner Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World (Knopf ’21), which was awarded the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. The novel was also recognized as the Association of Jewish Libraries Honor Book, was a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore Prize, and was long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Chakrabarti is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness (Knopf), which was among The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023. His short fiction has been published in Best American Short Stories, awarded a Pushcart Prize, and performed on Selected Shorts by Symphony Space. Chakrabarti’s nonfiction has been widely published in journals such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Writer’s Digest, Berfrois, and LitHub. He was an Emerging Writer Fellow with A Public Space and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Chakrabarti is also a trained computer scientist. Born in Kolkata, India, he currently lives in New York with his family and is a faculty member at Bennington Writing Seminars.
Amy Duran, Pianist
Amy Duran is a pianist, accompanist, and conductor. A graduate of Northwestern University, Amy spent 2 years with the Zurich Opera Studio, where she made her conducting debut. Amy served as an opera coach-conductor and accompanist to many vocal recitals around Germany, France and Switzerland. Amy has conducted on and off Broadway and has spent 16 years coaching, conducting and collaborating recitals and musicals and other projects for New Jersey City University Music Theatre Department under the leadership of Marc Dalio. She is now the music director at the Community Church of Harrington Park, New Jersey. Amy founded a duo-piano team with pianist Barbara Ciannella, and they perform in and around their community.
Barbara Ciannella, pianist
Barbara Ciannella is a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and teacher. She has worked with members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Juilliard School of Music, New York City Ballet, and elsewhere. She is on the faculty at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York and is the Music Director of Our Lady Mother of the Church in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Ms. Ciannella has appeared as guest soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, and Spain, and has made several tours to China’s Hunan. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Diploma from the Alicia de Larrocha International Course in Spanish Music, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Hungry?
Ticketed attendees are welcome to stay for dinner by indicating so in their Eventbrite RSVP.
There will be an a la carte menu to choose from. On the day of the event, you can pay for your meal with a card or your membership account (no cash).