The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers The Deer’s Cry Miller Theatre Early Music Series at Church of St. Mary the Virgin Saturday, October 26, 2024 NEW YORK – This past Saturday, renowned British vocal ensemble The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, made their Miller Theatre Early Music Series debut. Presented at Church of St. Mary the Virgin in midtown, the group performed music from their latest recording on Coro, The Deer’s Cry. Consisting of works by English Renaissance composer William Byrd (1540-1623) and Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (1935-), this seemingly eclectic pairing worked well together. Christophers may often be
Read moreYasmin Williams – Acadia (Nonesuch) Guitarist Yasmin Williams displayed a number of unconventional methods for playing acoustic guitar during her first two recorded outings, Unwind (2019) and Urban Driftwood (2022). These were no mere tricks of the trade, instead serving as organic components in her creation of supple folk instrumentals. Acadia is her first recording released on Nonesuch, and features a number of collaborators. In another first, Williams also writes lyrics for her music. Although it is her primary instrument, on Acadia Williams doesn’t confine herself to the acoustic guitar. She also plays tap shoes, harp guitar, banjo,
Read moreSplinter Reeds – Dark Currents (Cantaloupe) Splinter Reeds, the West Coast’s first wind quintet, has distinguished themselves as advocates for living composers. Dark Currents, their latest recording for Cantaloupe, features two twenty-ish minute long pieces, Tall Grass (2022) by the totalist composer and Bang on a Can member Michael Gordon, and Antenna Studies (2018) by Paula Matthusen, a professor at Wesleyan who is one of the finest experimental electronic composers of her generation; both works were written for Splinter Reeds. Gordon has steadily developed an eclectic musical language that exhibits fluency and variety in large scale forms. The
Read moreTuesday, October 15th: Sacred and Profane, Sirota and Clement at Symphony Space Tomorrow, Robert Sirota and Sheree Clement, two New York based composers, combine forces to present Sacred and Profane, a shared portrait concert at Symphony Space (7:30 PM, tickets here). Sirota may be best known for his stints as President at Peabody and Manhattan School of Music, but he’s remained active as a composer all along. Clement has also been involved as an arts administrator, having served as President of League of Composers/ISCM, Executive Director for New York New Music Ensemble, and, currently, on the board of Association
Read moreMiles Okazaki – Miniature America (Cygnus Records) Miles Okazaki – guitar Jon Ibragon, sopranino saxophone, slide saxophone, voice Caroline Davis, alto saxophone; Anna Weber, flute, tenor saxophone Jacob Garchik, trombone, bass trombone Matt Mitchell, piano; Patricia Brennan, vibraphone Ganavya, Jen Shyu, Fay Victor, voices David Breskin, producer Miles Okazaki’s latest recording, Miniature America, is one in which his compositional process has changed. He spent time sketching elements of sculpturist Ken Price’s work and was also inspired by the intricate line drawings of Sol Lewitt. The pieces created as a result of this research were coined “Slabs” by Okazaki, process
Read moreLouis Karchin: A Retrospective Merkin Concert Hall September 22, 2024 NEW YORK – Composer Louis Karchin has been prolific, even during the pandemic years. In a program at Merkin Concert Hall of chamber works and songs composed between 2018 and 2024, he was abetted by some of New York’s go-to new music performers, who acquitted themselves admirably throughout. Stephen Drury is an abundantly talented pianist. But even with a repertoire list as lengthy and challenging as Drury’s, Sonata-Fantasia (2020, New York Premiere) is an imposing addition. The piece is in four large sections combined into a single movement, with elements
Read moreBrett Dean Rooms of Elsinore BIS CD Jennifer France, soprano; Lotte Betts-Dean, mezzo-soprano Volker Hemken, bass clarinet James Crabb, accordion Juho Pohjonen, piano Andrey Lebedev, classical guitar Swedish Chamber Orchestra Brett Dean, violist and conductor Composer and violist Brett Dean has spent a number of years engaging with Hamlet, creating a controversial, successful, and musically compelling eponymous opera premiered in the UK in 2017 and subsequently produced at the Metropolitan Opera. Rooms of Elsinore (BIS, 2024) collects pieces serving as character sketches written in advance of the opera, those recasting material from the opera that premiered concurrently or subsequent
Read moreCal in Red – Low Low (B3SCI Records) Okay, I’ll admit it; this year I’m having a bit of trouble letting go of summer. Especially because September has brought the temperature down just enough to enjoy being outside; not so the new normal of climate change we experienced in July. The band Cal in Red seems similarly preoccupied. They released a number of singles during the summer, including the excellent “Kitchen,” on which they are joined by James Mercer (The Shins, Broken Bells). But the band held off on releasing their debut album Low Low until August 30th. It’s
Read moreJoël-François Durand Geister Kairos Music Olivia De Prato, violin; Victor Lowrie Tafoya, viola; Constance Volk, flute; Szilárd Benes and Katherine Jimoh, clarinet Mivos Quartet, Quatuor Bozzini Ensemble Dal Niente, Michael Lewanski, conductor On Geister, a double-CD release on Kairos, the music of Joël-François Durand receives benchmark performances by some of the best performers in contemporary classical music today. It features works from 2005-2022. Originally from France and currently based in the United States, Durand is Professor of Composition and Director of the School of Music at the University of Washington. Over the course of his career, Durand has
Read moreMarta Sanchez Perpetual Void Intakt CD 421 Jazz pianist and composer Marta Sanchez was born in Madrid and now resides in Brooklyn. She presents eleven originals on her fifth recording, Perpetual Void (Intakt, 2024). Usually Sanchez performs and records with a quintet featuring two saxophonists. Here, in her first trio outing, she is joined by bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Savannah Harris. The leaner lineup works well, as it allows Sanchez abundant room to solo and, moreover, to express elements of the emotional journey that transpired during the time she composed the works on Perpetual Void. She had lost her
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