"In The Chamber" with Kamran Ince, Pierre Jalbert, and Christopher Cerrone

by Ted Gordon on Feb. 23, 2016, 1:59 p.m.

(photo: Tom Bamberger; Present Music)

Milwaukee's Present Music is known for its imaginative and bold concerts of new music in the Midwest, bringing music to new venues and new audiences for over thirty years. Their upcoming concert program, "In The Chamber", features performances of works by PSNY composers Kamran Ince, Pierre Jalbert, and Christopher Cerrone, among others. The concerts will be held in four different venues around Milwaukee, including the Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and the Villa Terrace Arts Museum. Highly anticipated by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal and WISN Arts Milwaukee, this concert is not to be missed. 

Ince, Jalbert, and Cerrone have all been commissioned by Present Music in the past, and the ensemble has worked closely with the composers to produce truly innovative chamber music. The program will include Ince's Curve, inspired by the spirituality of architectural spaces in Turkey, much like his works Domes and Arches. Jalbert's Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano shows of Jalbert's signature compositional style of intensity, virtuosity, and passion. And Cerrone's Sonata for Violin and Piano retains the architectonic form of the classical sonata while exploring extended techniques, clashing timbres, and unity of expression. 

Check out some recordings of these works below! 

Kamran Ince: Wild Territories

by Ted Gordon on April 9, 2015, 12:02 a.m.

Kamran Ince is no stranger to the classical: his music explores threads that are woven between both past and present, and also between America and Europe—a Europe that knows no boundaries between "East" and "West", but rightly includes Turkic and other Eastern cultures into its fold. His operas, such as "The Judgment of Midas," are a flowing, eloquent expression of the contemporary possibilities of classical form.

Felix Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" may be considered the height of German Romanticism: an attempt to distill the pure spirit of music down to melody, rhythm, and harmony, without the need for text. Ince has re-imagined this song cycle as "Songs In Other Words," which premiered in Germany in 2014; now, the German "Classical Band" Spark has released a new album that contains many of these reimaginings, arranged for their small ensemble. The album, entitled "Wild Territories", was released on Berlin Classics, and is widely available online. On PSNY, two versions of this song cycle are available: one for flute and clarinet, the other for recorder and melodica, both accompanied by violin/viola, cello, and piano.  

All-PSNY Concert at the University of Memphis

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 31, 2014, 5:05 p.m.

Kamran Ince, composer and professor of Composition at the University of Memphis, recently led a concert of the U of M's Contemporary Chamber Players at the Rudi E Scheidt School of Music. The program included Ken Ueno's Visible Reminder of Invisible Light, Alex Mincek's Subito: No. 2, Timo Andres' I Found It By The Sea, Adrian Knight's Vain Attempts, and Keeril Makan's Tender Illusions. Check out this playlist of some of Kamran Ince's own compositions below, which were recently performed in a composer portrait concert by Milwaukee's leading new music organization, Present Music.