Pianist Sarah Cahill appears at LPR on April 6th at 7 PM as part of her tour celebrating the music and birth centenary of composer Lou Harrison. She and I touched base earlier this week as she was preparing for her trip to the Northeast. Hi Sarah. Thanks for taking time to talk with Sequenza 21. Which was the first Lou Harrison piece you played? When were you first aware of his music? I don’t remember the first piece I played, but I became interested in him because of my fascination with Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford and
Read moreVirgil Thomson – Gertrude Stein Four Saints in Three Acts; Capital Capitals Charles Blandy, tenor; Simon Dyer, bass; Aaron Engebreth, baritone; Andrew Garland, baritone; Tom McNichols, bass; Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, mezzo-soprano; Sarah Pelletier, soprano; Deborah Selig, soprano; Sumner Thompson, baritone; Lynn Torgove, mezzo-soprano; Stanley Wilson, tenor; Boston Modern Orchestra, Gil Rose, conductor BMOP/Sound 1049 2xCD Virgil Thomson’s 1934 collaboration with the eminent author Gertrude Stein resulted in their first of two operas, Four Saints in Three Acts. Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose, has made successful forays into recorded opera before, bringing scores such as Lukas
Read moreMiranda Cuckson – Pop Up Concert at Miller Theatre March 7, 2017 Published in Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK – Violinist Miranda Cuckson is one of the stars of new music in New York: a fearless, visionary, and tremendously talented artist. On March 7th, she presented a solo program of 20th and 21st century works in a “Pop Up Concert” at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. In her introduction to the event, Miller Theatre’s Executive Director Melissa Smey pointed out that their “Pop Up Series” has hosted dozens of world and New York premieres. Cuckson’s program was no
Read moreComposer Portrait – Beat Furrer Miller Theatre Thursday, February 2, 2017 Either/Or Ensemble; Richard Carrick, conductor By Christian Carey NEW YORK – Miller Theatre has long had plans for a Composer Portrait evening of Beat Furrer’s music. In 2001, the event was disrupted by 9/11, which made it impossible to bring in the musicians slated to perform. After a long hiatus, the American ensemble Either/Or, conducted by Richard Carrick, was invited to undertake the first Miller portrait event in 2017, finally featuring Furrer’s compositions. The concert was masterfully performed and artistically satisfying. Alas, this time out, it was Furrer
Read moreNew York Polyphony sings works by Ivan Moody and Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina Miller Theatre’s Early Music series at Church of St. Mary the Virgin Saturday, January 21, 2017 Sequenza 21 by Christian Carey NEW YORK – As part of Miller Theatre’s Early Music series, the male vocal quartet New York Polyphony (Geoffrey Williams, countertenor; Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenor; Christopher Dylan Herbert, baritone; and Craig Phillips, bass-baritone) celebrated their ensemble’s tenth anniversary with a concert at Church of St. Mary the Virgin on Saturday, January 21st. Speaking from the stage, the group acknowledged their long relationship with both Miller Theatre
Read moreOn Sunday, January 22nd at 7pm at National Sawdust in Brooklyn (80 North 6th Street), composer and toy pianist David Smooke will celebrate the release of his New Focus CD Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. Joined by album personnel loadbang, Karl Larson and Michael Parker Harley, Smooke will also perform and improvise on the toy piano. I recently caught up with him and discussed the new recording, compositional approaches, and some future plans. What attracts you to composing for and performing on the toy piano? The sound of the toy piano evokes an idealized childhood, the sort that no one I know actually enjoyed and yet many of us
Read moreBlue Heron at Corpus Christi Church Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK – On December 18th, Boston-based early music ensemble Blue Heron appeared at Corpus Christi Church as part of Music Before 1800’s series there. Their program, titled “Christmas at the Courts of 15th century France and Burgundy,” featured polyphony and plainchant that celebrated the Advent and Christmas seasons. Led by Scott Metcalfe, the fifteen-person ensemble was frequently broken into subsets and often sang without use of a conductor. Metcalfe instead led much of the proceedings from behind a harp or alongside the singers, setting the pace in
Read moreOn October 28th, a triple bill at Spectrum in NYC: Mivos Quartet performs Yvonne Wu’s piece “Utterance,” the winner of their annual call for scores. Iktus Percussion will showcase an evening of “clever, outrageous and adventurous” theatrical music by Rick Burkhardt, Paula Matthusen, and Paul Pinto (whose new album minis/Trajectories is out now). Quiet City will perform as a sextet: Vasudevan Panicker (piano), Pat Muchmore (cello), Tiffany Chang (percussion), and three guitarists from the Glenn Branca Ensemble: Luke Schwartz, Arad Evans, and Greg McMullen. The set will include pieces by each of the guitarists and a Muchmore cello solo. October
Read moreOn September 15-18 at Spectrum, Collide-O-Scope Music begins its eighth season with a Festival celebrating the music of Robert Morris. A wide range of works will be featured, for electronics, piano, small chamber ensemble, and string quartet. In addition to Collide-O-Scope personnel, there will be guest performers, notably JACK Quartet. I recently interviewed Morris about the upcoming concerts: our exchange follows. How did this Festival of your music come about? Out of the blue, on April 20, 2015, I received an email from Augustus Arnone proposing this festival of my music, complete with ideas for international outreach that drew
Read moreThe Locrian Players present music from the past decade. The repertoire that their curators find is always a fascinating listen and often includes several premieres. Check them out (for free) on Friday. Friday, August 26 at 8PM Derek Bermel A Short History of the Universe Martin Suckling Visiones after Goya** Elliott Carter Figment IV Royden Tze Starscape*** Jonathan Dawe Silent like the Snow Julian Grant Know Thy Kings and Queens Louis Conti Ohne Heimath * World Premiere ** U.S. Premiere *** New York Premiere 10th Floor Performance Space, Riverside Church Free Event Save
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