River to River'sr EX-SITU series of site-specific performances concluded last night at South Street Seaport's Pier 15: a surprisingly sleek and peaceful space surrounded by water, and a far cry the
Last night, I stopped by Federal Hall—caddy-corner from the NY Stock Exchange and site of Washington's first inauguration—for Anna Clyne's The Violin: a multimedia piece for two violins, played by Cornelius Dufallo
I only got to see one performance this year during the seventh-annual Make Music New York: the day-long feast of free outdoor music, which this year coincided with the first National
Ancient and innovative can easily coexist. In music especially, composers and peroformers throughout history have looked back for guidence and inspirtaion as they move forward. Steve Reich has openly written about the debt his music owes to the 13th century French composer Pérotin and one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest achievements was his rediscovery of J.S Bach’s music with his mounting of the St. Matthews Passion.
On Sunday night, the JACK Quartet and guest cellist Joshua Roman continued this tradition of finding inspiration in history and programmed their findings next to the rule breakers of today. They presented three madrigals by the intensely expressive renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, arranged for sting quintet by JACK violinist Ari Streisfeld, as well as works by Joshua Roman, Brian Ferneyhough and a new piece, premiered by the quintet just three weeks ago in Seattle, by Jefferson Friedman.
Last night, trailblazing violinist Jennifer Koh was joined by Ensemble LPR at (le) Poisson Rouge. They came together for a night of music by John Zorn, Charles Wuorinen, and Ludwig van Beethoven as a part of the LPR X5 festival. All of the pieces, ‘Passagen’ by Zorn, ‘Spin-5 for Violin and 18 Musicians’ by Wuorinen, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony brought a sense of wild abandon that perfectly complemented the youth and excitement of both Koh and Ensemble LPR.
Koh brought a fiery passion to John Zorn’s ‘Passagen’ for solo violin, which, like Wuorinen’s, was written for Ms. Koh. The piece is rife with rapid shifts from tight, intense tremolos and harsh pizzicato to tender ghostly harmonics. Sometimes, just sometimes, Koh coaxed out a single pure clean ethereal note or phrase that would sing out from the chaos before it was swallowed up again. The uneven rhythmic chords and pizzicato playing gave a distinctly Bartokian flavor, a flavor that was enhanced by Koh’s savage bowing.
To celebrate their LPR X5 festival, (le) Poisson Rouge is offering their exclusive "School of Fish" membership to two lucky FoM readers! Members get access to over 100 free shows every year,
by Zoë Gorman The String Orchestra of Brooklyn (alternately known as the SOBs, wink) is giving new flair to concert music by bringing modern compositions to the streets of New York’s
by Melanie Wong France’s premier contemporary chamber group, Ensemble Linea, arrived at CUNY’s Elebash Recital Hall Friday night while in the midst of their second overseas tour. While officially a sextet—flute,
by Melanie Wong Above: Cadillac Moon Ensemble; below: Circles and Lines Friday evening at the Tenri Cultural Institute, Cadillac Moon Ensemble presented a program of music exclusively written by members the
