New York

Chamber Music, Commissions, Competitions, Concerts, File Under?, Music Events, New York

Cuckson on the Cutting Edge



I’m looking forward to hearing violinist Miranda Cuckson premiere a new chamber concerto by Jeffrey Mumford tonight at Symphony Space.



Cuckson is a tremendous talent. Her recent CDs of music by Ralph Shapey, Donald Martino, and Michael Hersch are required listening for anyone interested in post-tonal chamber music.


The concert also includes works by Harold Meltzer, Victoria Bond, and Brian Ferneyhough. Cuckson is joined by the Argento Ensemble; the Da Capo Chamber Players will also perform (details below).


Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival Program
Monday, April 11, 2011, 7:30 pm; $20/Seniors $15
Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater in Peter Norton Symphony Space
Ticket information here

Jeffrey Mumford: through a stillness brightening (world premiere)
Argento Ensemble

Commissioned by the Argento New Music Project through the generosity of Marianna Bettman (in memory of Judge Gilbert Bettman) and Sonia Rothschild.

Brian Ferneyhough: La Chute D’Icare
Argento Ensemble

Harold Meltzer: Exiles
Da Capo Chamber Players, Mary Nessinger, mezzo soprano

Victoria Bond: Instruments of Revelation (NY premiere)
Da Capo Chamber Players

by Christian Carey
Contemporary Classical, New York, Strings

ETHEL!

ETHEL, acclaimed as America’s premier postclassical string quartet, will be giving a great show at Le Poisson Rouge tomorrow night. The concert is part of the Meet the Composer’s 3 CITY DASH FESTIVAL, and it features music from composers from San Francisco. Below is an email Q+A with Ralph Farris, ETHEL’s magnificent violist.

S21 Q + A w/ ETHEL:

ETHEL focuses on the repertoire of the the past four decades. While all of that music is classified as “contemporary,” it is extremely diverse compositionally. Is there any particularly style you prefer personally or as a group and enjoy working on?

We do love tunes that groove! If there is some infectious rhythmic element in a piece, it’s probably going to spark something with us.

We particularly enjoy working in person with composers. Having the experience of being together with a composer as the music comes to life is very special.

And of course, we are always thrilled to present the work of young composers!

Despite the extreme variety in contemporary classical music, do you have one sort of goal you hope to communicate generally with all the music you play?

Music is a language, a profound connector of cultures and ideas.

With our work, we aim to link people together in a shared experience, to inspire and celebrate our common humanity.

Along that line, when you receive a new work by a composer, likely something you’ve never heard or seen before, do you approach each piece differently, or with a sort of rehearsal routine?

We endeavor to learn as much as we can about a composer before we read their work, in an effort to open our ears, minds and hearts.

On the nuts-and-bolts side, we prefer to receive both a score and parts. And a MIDI file or recording is always helpful.

As to rehearsal routine, there are some tried-and-true techniques that we advocate:

•           If there’s a measure that is giving us trouble, we’ll put an imaginary repeat sign around it and loop it until the physical feel of it is locked.

•           Slow practice is invaluable, of course, but we also spend good amounts of time at medium speed, galvanizing ensemble and overall feel.

•           Once a piece is almost feeling solid, but just needs a little push, we may turn ourselves away from each other for a run or two, in an effort to feel each others’ lines and intentions. Pretty tough exercise, but it has helped us greatly.

Do you approach pieces primarily with a sort of ETHEL quartet style? The group is notoriously charismatic– how do you translate that into an extremely minimalistic piece, for instance?

LOL. We are four people having a great time making music together. I would hope that this translates through any music that we approach.

(more…)

by Tema Watstein
Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, New York, Strings, Twentieth Century Composer, Video

Reich on Reich

Steve Reich turns 75 this coming October, and the celebrations have already begun. Later this month is a concert at Carnegie Hall on April 30th. It features the Kronos Quartet in a new piece commemorating a more sombre anniversary: WTC 9/11.

In the lead up to the Carnegie concert, there will likely be countless interviews, features, etc.; but this YouTube video is a terrific five-minute distillation of Reich’s interests, influences, and musical style.

I love the segue early on from bebop ii-V-I changes to Steve Reich’s pulsating ostinati.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO_WVD6Dt6E[/youtube]

by Christian Carey
Chamber Music, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, File Under?, New York, Video, Women composers

Cutting Edge Concerts Kicks Off Tonight

Thus far, 2011 seems to be the year of the festival. From Tune Up to Tully Scope and beyond, a wide variety of adventurous outings have been offered in New York. Starting tonight, Symphony Space joins in the fun with their Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival.

If each festival has had its own identity – Tune Up reveling in the Park Avenue Armory’s generous space and acoustics, Tully Scope celebrating the diversity of its offerings and its newly remodeled digs – the emphasis of Cutting Edge seems, like so many events at Symphony Space, to be outreach and interaction.
All of the composers will be present at the concerts featuring their music. Each program will include onstage discussion between the featured composers and Victoria Bond. One hopes that meeting composers “in the flesh” and learning about their works firsthand will encourage audience members to approach their works with open minds and ears.
Tonight’s concert includes a world premiere by talented up and comer Hannah Lash, as well as a New York premiere by perennial audience favorite Peter Schickele. Kathleen Supove performs a work by Randy Woolf . Topping it all off is Hidden Inside Mountains, a new multimedia work by downtown luminary Laurie Anderson.
Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival is on four Monday evenings at 7:30 pm on
March 28, April 4, April 11 and April 25, 2011 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre in
Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in New York City.
More information about the Festival, including program notes, performer and composer bios, and
video interviews is available at  CuttingEdgeConcerts.org.
Tickets are $20 ($15 for students and seniors).
To purchase tickets, visit  SymphonySpace.org or call 212-864-5400.

 

 
Program for Monday, March 28, 2011

Hannah Lash: Folksongs (world premiere)
MAYA: Sato Moughalian, flute; Bridget Kibbey, harp, John Hadfield, percussion
MAYA’s appearance is supported by the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family
Foundation
Peter Schickele: Music for Orcas Island (NY premiere)
Renee Jolles, violin; Daniel Panner, viola; Maxine Neuman, cello; Kathleen Supove,
piano
Jon Deak: Bye Bye
Sato Moughalian, flute; Kathleen Supove, piano
Randall Woolf: Righteous Babe
Sato Moughalian, flute; Kathleen Supove, piano
Laurie Anderson: Hidden Inside Mountains
Laurie Anderson, video and music
by Christian Carey
Contemporary Classical, New York, Premieres

Lunatics, poets and composers giving sanctuary

(And Gods know sanctuary is something many of us might be searching for these days…) This Monday, 21 March, at 8pm in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (57th Street and Seventh Avenue, NYC), the ensemble Lunatics at Large begin a series of four concerts with five premieres, of works involving the collaboration of five composers and five poets. This little bit of numerology is titled “The Sanctuary Project“; Project Director Evi Jundt says:

We picked artists whose work we believed would be evocative of the theme ‘Sanctuary.’ First, the poets presented one new poem and some older works to the composers. The composers then chose which poet(s) they felt compelled to collaborate with. Each collaboration happened on its own terms: in one case, it resulted in a group of poems set to music in a song cycle; in another case, the poet helped find examples of folk music to be quoted in the composition. In the next stage, musical compositions served as inspiration for another new work by the poets. Finally, the poets – the initiators of the process – will join the musicians onstage to read their work in between performances of the chamber pieces.

The composers are André Brégégère, Mohammed Fairouz, Raphael Fusco, Laura Koplewitz and Alex Shapiro; the poets are Rob Buchert, Joanna Fuhrman, David Shapiro, Yerra Sugarman and Ryan Vine.

The Lunatics will present the same concert three more times, in actual sanctuaries: April 8, 8pm at Christ and Saint Stephen’s Church (122 West 69th Street, NYC); April 10, 7pm at the Synagogue for the Arts (49 White Street, NYC); and April 21, 7:30pm at WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC).

by Steve Layton
Competitions, Composers, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, New York

Exploring the Metropolis Expands Residency Program

Judith Sainte Croix presenting as part of Con Ed's Composer Residency Program

Exploring the Metropolis administers the Con Edison Composer Residency Program, a response to the challenges musicians face finding space to work in the ever more pricey environs of New York. The organization has just announced that it is expanding the program for its Spring 2011 residencies. They’ll be finding eight composers three month residencies at four different locations throughout the city (including the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn). This will allow them a space to work, an opportunity to present their music in a public program at the completion of their appointment, and a small stipend (This year it was $1000).

Thus far, Flushing Town Hall in Queens and Turtle Bay Music School in Midtown East Manhattan have been announced as spaces for next year’s residencies. Exploring the Metropolis suggests that interested composers sign up for their email list to get further details about the 2011 program as they are announced

by Christian Carey
Cello, Chamber Music, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, Minimalism, New York

Maya Beiser at the Rubin Museum Tonight

In the current economy—particularly in the recording industry—expediency can sometimes trump artistry. All too often, classical artists with a recent CD release can’t afford to worry too much about the curatorial vision of a concert series on which they appear: they’ve got to make their album’s program fit somehow in order to promote the product. During a recent consultation with a marketing professional, I learned that some venues have begun exploring partnerships with オンラインカジノ to secure additional sponsorship revenue, a strategy that has already sparked both interest and debate among artists. Happily, there are still times when an artist’s work and a venue’s vision come together seamlessly, ensuring that the demands of commerce do not overshadow genuine creativity.

The Rubin Museum’s Resonating Light music series continues tonight  with a concert by cellist Maya Beiser. Her recording Provenance, released last year on Innova, explored music from disparate faith traditions, reflecting cultures that coexisted during the Middle Ages on the Iberian Peninsula.

Her program tonight takes a similar approach, bringing together music inspired by different religious traditions. But rather than just featuring music from Provenance in a “close enough” curatorial approach, Beiser studied the artworks in a recent exhibit at the Rubin entitled Embodying the Holy.

In response to the pieces on display, Bhe has programmed together works reflective of Orthodox Christianity (Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and John Tavener’s Lament To Phaedra) as well as Tibetan Buddism and other Easter philosophies (Even Ziporyn’s Kabya Maya and Douglas Cuomo’s Only Breath). Beiser’s arrangement of Max Bruch’s Kol Nidre represents Judaism. Rounding things out, Beiser is joined by accordionist Guy Klucevsek for Sofia Gubaidulina’s In Croce, arranged for cello and bajan.

Resonating Light: Maya Beiser

Rubin Museum of Art

150 W. 17 St., NYC 10011 · 212.620.5000

Sunday March 13, 2011 @ 6:00 PM (galleries open at 5:15)

Price: $35.00

Member Price: $31.50

by Christian Carey
Birthdays, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Electro-Acoustic, File Under?, New York

Happy Birthday Mario!

Composer Mario Davidovsky turns 77 today. The International Contemporary Ensemble and soprano Tony Arnold are celebrating his birthday with a Portrait Concert at Miller Theatre tonight at 8 PM (details here). They’ve also recorded a birthday greeting for the composer (video below), adding a bit of angularity and jocular dodecaphony to a more traditional number.

Mario Davidovsky Birthday Toast from Miller Theatre on Vimeo.

by Christian Carey
Boston, Composers, Concerts, Conductors, Contemporary Classical, Criticism, File Under?, New York, Orchestras, Performers, Violin

Levine leaving BSO, but show goes on with Birtwistle premiere

We’re saddened to learn of James Levine’s cancellation of the rest of his appearances this season at the Boston Symphony Orchestra and his resignation from the post of BSO Music Director. Levine has been in that position since 2004, but has had to cancel a number of appearances during his tenure due to a variety of health problems. In an interview published today in the New York Times, Levine indicated that he will retain his position as Music Director at the Metropolitan Opera. Apparently, conversations between Levine and the BSO about a possible future role with the orchestra are ongoing.

The BSO plans to keep its season underway with minimal changes apart from substitute conductors. They’re even going to premiere a new work this week under the baton of Assistant Conductor Marcelo Lehninger. In Boston’s Symphony Hall on March 3,4,5, and 8, and at Carnegie Hall in New York on March 15, the orchestra and soloist Christian Tetzlaff will be giving the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s Violin Concerto.

It’s bittersweet that Levine is stepping down during a week when an important commission, one of several during his tenure, is seeing its premiere. I made a number of pilgrimages from New York to Boston (thank goodness for Bolt Bus!) to hear him conduct contemporary music with the BSO,  including pieces by Harbison, Wuorinen, Babbitt, and Carter. He helped a great American orchestra (with a somewhat conservative curatorial direction) to make the leap into 21st century repertoire and was a terrific advocate for living composers.

Many in Boston and elsewhere have complained that by taking on the BSO, while still keeping his job at the Met, Levine overreached and overcommitted himself. Further, when his health deteriorated, some suggest that he should have stepped aside sooner.

I’ll not argue those points. But I will add that, when he was well, Levine helped to create some glorious nights of music-making in Boston that I’ll never forget. And for that, I’m extraordinarily grateful.

***

I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised to hear that Birtwistle was composing a violin concerto, as it seemed to me an uncharacteristic choice of solo instrument for him. After all, the composer of Panic and Cry of Anubis isn’t a likely candidate for the genre that’s brought us concerti by Brahms and Sibelius (and even Bartok and Schoenberg!).

But then I thought again. Having heard his Pulse Shadows and the recent Tree of Strings for quartet, both extraordinary pieces, I can see why he might want to explore another work that spotlights strings. Perhaps his approach to the violin concerto will bring the sense of theatricality, innovative scoring, and imaginative approach to form that he’s offered in so many other pieces.

I’m hoping to get a chance to hear it when it the orchestra comes to New York. No pilgrimage this time. My next Bolt Bus trip to Boston will likely have to wait ’til next season to hear the BSO in its post-Levine incarnation.

by Christian Carey
Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, Festivals, File Under?, New York

Tuning in Tonight at the Armory

Park Avenue Armory Drill Hall

This week I’m going to be covering the Tune-In Festival at the Park Avenue Armory for Musical America. Earlier this month, the Armory made the news for another high profile arts endeavor. It was announced as the site for the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Gruppen during the 2011-’12 season. Just as the venue’s large Drill Hall is ideal for a work such Gruppen – a spatial music extravaganza for three orchestras – it’s also ideal for a number of works on the Tune-In Festival that are conceived for unconventional venues.

Tonight is the premiere of Arco, a symphonic collaboration between Paul Haas, Paul Fowler, and Bora Yoon. Performed by Sympho, New York Polyphony, laptop performers, and baritone Charles Perry Sprawls, it brings together snippets of early music, quotations from Beethoven symphonies, original contemporary classical/electronica sections, and even Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten! This ambitious accumulation of sonic events sounds to me like something that could be very cool or a chaotic mash-up, but I’m eager to hear what they’ve created!

Festival Schedule

ARCO
Wednesday February 16 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25
The world premiere of ARCO, the Armory-commissioned orchestral work co-composed by Paul Haas, Paul Fowler and Bora Yoon and performed by Sympho.

POWERFUL
Thursday, February 17 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $30
powerFUL confronts listeners with edgy politically-charged music performed by eighth blackbird, red fish blue fish, Newspeak, and guest artists.

POWERLESS
Friday, February 18 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $30
powerLESS celebrates the rich and multifaceted world of “absolute music” that seeks no meaning beyond its notes. Performed by eighth blackbird, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Steve Schick, and guest artists.

INUKSUIT
Sunday, February 20 at 4:00pm
Tickets: $30
The New York—and indoor—premiere of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit, which features more than 70 percussionists moving throughout the Armory’s expansive drill hall during the performance.

by Christian Carey