Christopher Cerrone Portrait Concert at Columbia's Miller Theatre

by Ted Gordon on March 28, 2018, 1:31 p.m.

Christopher Cerrone has taken inspiration for many of his works from the worlds of literature and poetry; on March 29th, he will see the premiere of a new work entitled "A Natural History of Vacant Lots" that instead draws from the poesis of the urban landscape.

Echoing the etymological root of the term "poesis" (ποίησις)—to bring something into existence that did not exist before—Cerrone's new piece takes inspiration from a 1987 book that surveys the life that emerges from vacant city lots, a cyclical process that unfolds organically and that can create surprising results. As Cerrone told Broadway World, "Though the growth of the material is extremely gradual, the things that emerge from the cycle of chords are sometimes surprising and veer quite far from the original material." This material is heard developing around the audience in a dimly-lit concert hall, emerging from two vibraphones and several loudspeakers into what New York Magazine calls a "dense sonic tangle."

A Natural History of Vacant Lots will be performed by Third Coast Percussion, with whom Cerrrone has worked extensively, and who co-commissioned the work along with Miller Theatre. Third Coast will also perform Cerrone's 2016 Goldbeater's Skin, accompanied by the soprano Rachel Calloway, and his 2012 work Memory Palace, arranged for percussion quartet. Check out the solo version of Memory Palace below. 

New Works from Richard Carrick, Anthony Cheung, and Christopher Cerrone

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 24, 2017, 10:48 a.m.

On October 27th, Richard Carrick will see the world premiere of his new work, sandstone(s), at the Pacific Rim Festival in Santa Cruz, CA. Pairing flute, violin, and cello with traditional Korean instruments, sandstone(s) is inspired by the temporary, unstable structures created by sand, which the composer explored making at Kenya's Diani Beach during his residence in Rwanda in 2016. Sandstone(s), which will be published by PSNY, is inspired by Carrick's involvement with different iterations of traditional Korean pansori, which he has explored in his solo violin work Seongeum, published by PSNY. It will be premiered by the New York New Music Ensemble alongside the Gugak Contemporary Orchestra of Seoul. For a taste of Carrick's relationship with traditional Korean music, check out a recording of Seongeum below.

On November 18th, Anthony Cheung, in collaboration with Wang Lu, will see a new work for solo piano premiered by Joel Fan at the Open Source Music Festival at New York's Abrons Art Center. A few weeks later on November 29, the Longleash piano trio will perform a new version of Cheung's 2006 work, Flyaway Detours, in addition to the US premiere of Ann Cleare's 93 Million Miles Away. To get a sense of Cheung's writing for solo piano, check out his performance of his own work, Running the (full) Gamut), from 2008.

In addition to performances of his work across the country, Christopher Cerrone will see the world premiere of his new string quartet, can't and won't, on December 7th at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Co-Commissioned by the LA Phil and the Calder Quartet, this new work is Cerrone's second string quartet, after 2016's How to Breathe Underwater, which was originally written for male voice, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and electroincs, in 2011.

Christopher Cerrone's 'High Windows" in Phoenix

by Ted Gordon on March 3, 2017, 5 p.m.

Christopher Cerrone describes High Windows in classical terms: a concerto grosso for string quartet and chamber orchestra in sonata form. Yet as loaded as those associations might be, they are also blank forms which Cerrone has filled with his own poetic blend of musical lyricism. High Windows was performed recently in Phoenix, conducted by Tito Muñoz.

Check out an extended interview with Cerrone about this work on Q2.