Simone Dinnerstein + Tift Merritt

Thursday, April 4, 2013 | 7:00 pm

In 2011, Brooklyn-based classical pianist Simone Dinnerstein and North Carolina’s patron saint of Americana, Tift Merritt, premiered Night at Reynolds Theater. Now they return to Durham to re-envision their groundbreaking song cycle of classics and commissions, celebrating Night’s record release on SONY Classical with two back-to-back shows.

Merritt, a “reliable and heartbreaking” (River Front Times) vocalist and guitarist, and Dinnerstein, a Bach specialist of “arresting freshness and subtlety” (Time), chart an unsuspected territory between J.S. Bach and Cat Stevens, Henry Purcell and Allen Toussaint, old Europe and new America. This intimate staging at First Presbyterian features new collaborative covers and solo performances, revealing further luminous shades in this star-filled Night.