Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane Perform Works by Timo Andres

by Ted Gordon on March 9, 2017, 11:13 a.m.

The music of Timo Andres glimpses the history of Western art music while steadfastly looking at the present. Thus it's fitting that his music be performed by two generations of the same musical family on America's two coasts, in the span of only six days. On March 12th, Jeffrey Kahane performs Andres's Heavy Sleep in Berkeley—a work that begins to obsess with a musical idea from a Chopin nocturne in dream-like free association. Check out Bruce Levingston's Naxos recording below: 

And on March 18th, Andres will see a performance of his song cycle Work Songs at National Sawdust with a group of close collaborators including Gabriel Kahane, Becca Stevens, Ted Hearne, Nathan Koci, and Taylor Levine. Work Songs, which premiered in 2014, begins from the long tradition of American folk songs that thematize labor—Andres remembers the Fireside Book of Folk Songs from his childhood—and explores the habits and methods of working artists today, including Andres himself and his collaborators. Listen to a 2015 performance below.

Third Coast Percussion Premieres Christopher Cerrone's "Goldbeater's Skin"

by Ted Gordon on Feb. 7, 2017, 10:27 a.m.

On February 4th, Grammy-nominated Third Coast Percussion and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway premiered a new work byChristopher Cerrone at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center entitled Goldbeater's Skin. Goldbeater's Skin, which was commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting and the DeBartolo PAC, sets poems by G.C. Waldrep from the book of the same name.

Waldrep lived for many years in an Amish community in North Carolina, and his poems reflect that "earthy mysticism"; Cerrone takes the percussive title of Waldrep's collection and realizes it with his signature blend of poeticism, lyricism, and texture. In the South Bend Tribune, Third Coast Percussionist David Skidmore notes that "There are a lot of ways to describe what [Cerrone] does, but it's best described as 'beautiful music,' which is saying a lot."

Cerrone has set many American poets' work to music, and he is the third member of the Sleeping Giant collective to work with Third Coast Percussion, which has previously commissioned works by Timo Andres (Austerity Measures, available on PSNY) and Ted Hearne (Thaw). Check out the world premiere of Austerity Measures below. 

New York Festival of Song Features Christopher Cerrone & Friends

by Ted Gordon on Dec. 7, 2016, 11 a.m.

Now in its 29th year, the New York Festival of Song will present an evening of music and poetry curated by PSNY composer Christopher Cerrone. Hosted at National Sawdust on December 8th, 2016, this evening features music by Cerrone, along with works by Timo Andres, Ted Hearne, Erin Gee, and Scott Wollschleger, setting poetry by GC Waldrep, Bill Knott, Dorothea Lasky, and Andrea Cohen. 

Vocalist Theo Bleckmann will perform the New York debut of Cerrone's The Naomi Songs, which he premiered at EMPAC in 2015. Cerrone will also preview a new composition, Apocatastasis, which sets the poem of the same name by G. C. Waldrep. Also previewed this evening will be Three songs based on Lasky poems, by Ted Hearne. 

Timo Andres will join Bleckmann as pianist for his recently-premiered Mirror Songs, and the program also features two of Erin Gee'sMouthpiece works, as well as Scott Wollschleger's Fragment on Fragments.  

Check out an excerpt of Cerrone's The Naomi Songs below.