Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Bucking the Concerto With Matt Haimovitz

Matt Haimovitz has been making waves lately by taking his cello into establishments better known for their beer and buffalo wings than the quality of their acoustics and the deep pockets of their patrons. Okay, so it�s a not-so-subtle attempt to shed classical music of the �elitism� image we�ve been talking about around here for the past several days. But it seems to be working.

Through some adventuresome programming and some downright clever marketing and promotion, Haimovitz has done a lot of good for himself and for living (and a few dead) American composers. His Anthem album has appeared on numerous top 10 lists, including the Best Classical Album of 2003 on Amazon.com. Before Anthem, he made a splash with his performances of Bach�s 6 Suites for Cello Solo in intimate clubs and coffeehouses across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

On Sunday May 29, the latest Haimovitz project--Buck the Concerto--comes to the Knitting Factory for an evening of big band music by David Sanford, featuring a world premiere performance of Scherzo Grosso, a new concerto for cello and big band commissioned by Haimovitz with funds from the Koussevitzky Foundation. A new version of Sanford�s Seventh Avenue Kaddish � for cello and percussion � will also be premiered, along with several recent works for big band alone, all performed by the Pittsburgh Collective. The entire evening will be recorded, and the resulting album will mark the launch of a new Oxingale label for live recordings: Oxingale Exposed.

�Buck the Concerto is a series of new commissions by both young and established composers, pitting the cello against unusual ensembles such as big band, a capella choir, or gamelan groups, with the idea of bringing the discoveries made in these pieces back to the orchestra,� Haimovitz says.

According to the press release, the �Buck the Concerto� commissions will have two lives: in the piece�s original unexpected pairing, and then in a more traditional arrangement for cello and symphony orchestra. Both versions of the pieces will be recorded and released on Oxingale Records. After Sanford�s Scherzo Grosso, Luna Pearl Woolf�s Dr. Watson and the Dark Lady of DNA, a concerto for cello and choir on an original libretto by Philadelphia poet Eleanor Wilner, will be next in the series, coming in the spring of 2006.

posted by Jerry Bowles 5/12/2005